{"id":4212,"date":"2025-10-03T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/?p=4212"},"modified":"2025-11-06T14:20:48","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T21:20:48","slug":"judge-ito","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/judge-ito\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge Ito"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The judge who was judged by the world.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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October 3, 1995: An estimated 150 million Americans tuned in to hear the verdict of the O.J. Simpson trial, presided over by Judge Lance Ito.\n<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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When you hear the name Judge Ito, what\u2019s the first thing that comes to your mind?<\/p>

But is that a fair perception? While Simpson walked free, Judge Ito was left behind to carry the weight of the spectacle \u2014 and the judgment of the world. Most people miss the reason why he was tasked to handle such a high-profile case in the first place, and that he was much more than just that one event.<\/p>

From Life of Injustice to the Justice System<\/strong><\/h4>

Lance Ito was born in Los Angeles in 1950, the son of Jim and Toshi Ito. Like over 120,000 other Japanese Americans, both his parents were incarcerated<\/a> during World War II at Heart Mountain concentration camp. Jim was an accomplished farmer who led the entire agricultural program during incarceration \u2014 transforming both the landscape and productivity of the camp.<\/p>

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Jim and Toshi Ito with their children, Krislyn and baby Lance, in Los Angeles after the war. Both parents were incarcerated at Heart Mountain during WWII.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Jim Ito, father of Judge Lance Ito. At Heart Mountain, he led the program that turned barren desert into fertile farmland \u2014 a legacy that still feeds people today.\n<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Judge Lance Ito kept a panoramic photo of Heart Mountain in his courtroom \u2014 a reminder of where his family had been, and how easily liberty can be taken away.\n<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Before the \u201cTrial of the Century,\u201d Judge Lance Ito presided over the initial hearing of the Menendez brothers, another trial that sent shockwaves through America. \n<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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That heritage of injustice stayed with him. As a Superior Court judge decades later, Ito kept a panoramic photograph of Heart Mountain in his courtroom, as a quiet reminder of how fragile liberty can be.<\/p>

Ito graduated with honors from UCLA in 1972, then earned his law degree from UC Berkeley in 1975. He quickly rose through the ranks of the L.A. District Attorney\u2019s office, prosecuting gang violence, organized crime, and high-profile cases like Brandon Tholmer, the “West Side Rapist.”<\/p>

In 1987, Republican Governor George Deukmejian appointed him to the Municipal Court, then elevated him to the Superior Court two years later. By 1992, Ito had already presided over the initial hearing of the Menendez brothers and was named Trial Judge of the Year by the Los Angeles County Bar Association. He wasn\u2019t just talented \u2014 he was respected.<\/p>

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The Trial That Never Ended<\/strong><\/h4>

Judge Ito\u2019s decision to allow cameras in the courtroom turned what was already a high-profile case into a global phenomenon. Critics accused him of indulging in the attention, pointing to the long recesses and sidebars. Court TV exploded in popularity. Comedians mimicked his stoic face. He was a meme before the memes.<\/p>

But while the public consumed the drama like reality TV, Ito was left to manage the legal and emotional chaos behind the scenes.<\/p>

He wasn\u2019t the celebrity. He was the scapegoat.<\/p>

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O.J. Simpson trying on the gloves. The moment that defined the \u201cTrial of the Century\u201d and a dramatic turning point in a courtroom watched by millions.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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Judge Lance Ito became one of the most parodied figures of the 1990s, from SNL sketches to the \u2018Dancing Itos.\u2019 \n<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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Judge Lance Ito in his courtroom. His courtroom nameplate was stolen so many times, he stopped replacing it. Eventually, there was no name outside his door.<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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After the Spotlight<\/strong><\/h4>

After the verdict, Ito never gave interviews about the trial, largely due to judicial ethics that prohibit judges from commenting on their cases. Instead, he returned to work and quietly presided over hundreds of cases. He also put in a lot of work to improve judicial access for immigrants and limited-English speakers. He served the public until his retirement in 2015.<\/p>

But in the public imagination, he remained frozen in time \u2014 the judge from the Simpson trial.<\/p>

Lance Ito\u2019s fame is a reminder that history often distorts those caught in its lens. Has any judge ever been judged by more people?<\/p>

Maybe you be the judge.<\/p>

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Share this article<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Decades after his parents\u2019 incarceration at Heart Mountain, Judge Lance Ito presided over the O.J. Simpson trial \u2014 a defining moment in American justice and media history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[251,31,248,247,51,224,223,246,225,253,32,245,9],"class_list":["post-4212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-business-agriculture","tag-civil-rights","tag-civil-rights-activism","tag-entertainment-sports","tag-heart-mountain","tag-judge-ito","tag-lance-ito","tag-law-justice","tag-oj-simpson-trial","tag-politicians-leaders","tag-quiet-americans","tag-wartime-incarceration","tag-wwii-incarceration"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4212"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4212\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5250,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4212\/revisions\/5250"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quietamericans.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}