Russel-Paul H. Kawai (Ventura County)
Superior Court of California, County of Ventura
insufficient Left–Right record (FairPAC / Wake the Bench assessment — not an official court label): Insufficient public record. Insufficient cite depth for ideology.
Judge matrix ThinNot enough public cites yet
Cite-only multi-axis Soft. FairPAC assessment — not an official court label. Evidence depth: Thin. Legacy letter alias: C (transitional only). How the matrix works.
- 1 · Role fidelity
- Thin · Thin
No sourced pattern attached yet. - 2 · Judicial craft
- Thin · Thin
No sourced pattern attached yet. - 3 · Rights & liberty
- Thin · Thin
No sourced pattern attached yet. - 4 · Public safety
- Thin · Thin
No sourced pattern attached yet. - 5 · Separation of powers
- Thin · Thin
No sourced pattern attached yet. - 6 · Ethics & fitness
- No public discipline on file · N/A
Absence of attached public CJP discipline is not a purity claim.
Research status: grades use public cites only; thin records stay C until sourced. How we research.
- Court
- Superior Court of California, County of Ventura
- Office
- District / seat
- Ventura County Superior Court
- County
- Ventura County
- Appellate district
- District 2
- Election
- unknown
- Composite
- ThinNot enough public cites yet Researchable but unsourced — default until cites land. Alias of legacy C when thin.
- Legacy letter
- C Mixed / thin record (alias only)
- Record lean
- insufficient
Public decisions (chronological · cite-only)
Voting / case record: limited public data
This section will grow chronologically as published opinions / CJP decisions are Soft-attached. We never invent case holdings or a complete trial docket.
California published opinions · CJP decisions
About this listing
Superior Court judge, Ventura County — from official Governor judicial appointments HTML.
Deep dive Deep
Cite-only career / advocacy Soft profile. FairPAC / Wake the Bench assessment — not an official court label.
Background
Judge of the Ventura County Superior Court (Governor appointment announcement).
Education
Juris Doctor degree from BYU Law School and a Master of Arts degree in Strategy from the U (per Governor appointment announcement).
Prior professional work
Kawai has served as a Commissioner at the Ventura County Superior Court since 2021. He served as a Military Judge in the U.S. Army Reserves, 150th Legal Operations Detachment from 2023 to 2024. Kawai served as a Senior Deputy Public Defender at the Ventura County Public Defender’s Office from 2014 to 2021 and was a Sole Practitioner from 2010 to 2014. He was a Trial Attorney at the Utah County Public Defender Association from 2007 to 2010 and was a Partner at the Law offices of Esplin and Weight from 2001 to 2006 — per Governor appointment announcement.
Advocacy / public roles
Not yet sourced — researchable.
Appointment / elevation
Appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the Ventura County Superior Court; He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Rocky Baio. (per Governor appointment announcement).
Wave 2 deepen from primary Governor judicial appointments HTML. deepDive=Deep. Grade C until opinion/CJP cites. Never invent holdings/ideology.
Cite-only. We never invent career history or advocacy.
Why this grade — metrics
See methodology.
Public discipline (CJP)
Check the Commission on Judicial Performance before relying on any grade. We do not invent findings.
cjp.ca.gov decisions by judges
Sources
- Source · — source
- Commission on Judicial Performance — public decisions
- Grade methodology — methodology.html