Santa Cruz judge censured by commission following attempt to have traffic ticket dismissed

CAPITOLA, Calif.–California’s Commission on Judicial Performance has imposed a severe public censure, expressing their disapproval, on a Santa Cruz County judge who ran a red light then tried to have the ticket dismissed.

The commission said in a statement Monday that Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Ariadne J. Symons’ traffic violation came after a history of disciplinary issues that were aggravating factors in its decision.

The commission found that she violated the judicial code of ethics, but she was not taken off the bench.

Official documents uncovered that Symons knowingly ran through a red light camera in Capitola in May 2016.

The commission said after Symons was caught on camera driving through a red light, a ticket was sent to her husband because the car was registered to him. The judge helped her husband try to get the ticket dismissed, never identifying herself as the driver, it said.

Some locals told KION they’re not surprised to see a person in power do something like this.

“That’s the problem with today’s society, you know. If you’re high in power, you get away with things,” Gilroy’s Jake Carmack said. “When you have power, you’re gonna abuse it.”

Drivers are all too familiar with the red light cameras, like the ones that line 41st Ave in Capitola. When someone runs a red light, the cameras take a pictures of the vehicle, license plate, and the driver.

Some drivers told KION the cameras ar

“Probably the drivers will pay more attention to the light and can be more safe,” San Jose resident Guilherme Varotto said. “Because sometimes when have like no cameras, people just cross the light and can be really dangerous.”

Varotto recently whitnessed a driver running a red light and causing an accident.

“This person take a left one car cross a red light and the car turn over in my front and it was really scary,” Varotto said.

Carmack said he doesn’t think the cameras help deter speeding drivers.

“If they see it’s still yellow, they’re still going to try to gun through it,” he said.

Symons said in a statement she accepts the commission’s findings and believes the process will make her a better judge.