Debra R. Archuleta Admonished

The California Commission on Judicial Performance publicly admonished Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Debra R. Archuleta in December 2025 for a pattern of discourteous, undignified, and impatient behavior toward parents and children across seven juvenile dependency matters. The Commission's decision found Archuleta conducted an improper independent investigation, initiated an ex parte communication, and held off-the-record discussions on substantive matters without preserving a record — and that she disparaged parents and children in court and treated them "as if they were criminal defendants," rather than participants in a dependency proceeding meant to protect families.

The public admonishment was aggravated by prior discipline: the Commission had already privately admonished Archuleta in February 2023 for conduct across four separate matters spanning September 2020 through February 2021. The 2025 order treated the repeat pattern, not a single lapse, as the basis for going public.

Dependency court exists to handle some of the most vulnerable people the judiciary sees — parents fighting to keep custody of their children and children caught in the middle. A judge who treats them with open disparagement and cuts corners on the record, in the same way twice within a few years, has shown a temperament and process problem, not a single bad day.