BAR ASSOCIATION GIVES BAD MARK TO JUDGE CANDIDATE.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Daily News Staff Writer

Larry Layton, an Acton attorney running for an Antelope Municipal Court judge's seat, said he has again received a "not qualified" rating from the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

Bar association officials cited lack of temperament and "work ethic" for their tentative evaluation of Layton, but Layton said he believes the main reasons were his religious views and stance against abortion.

"They didn't like my religious views being tied in with a person being an attorney, let alone being a judge," Layton said.

Layton was deemed "not qualified" by the bar association in 1994 when he was one of five candidates running in a hotly contested race for a municipal court judge's seat.

Layton is running against Municipal Court Judge Chesley McKay in the March 26 election. The judge's terms are six years.

Layton said he would not let his religious views affect his work as a judge, and that his anti-abortion views are not relevant or important to his being a judge.

"If it were up to me, I wouldn't put any credence in what the Los Angeles County Bar Association says," Layton said.

The bar association issues ratings of candidates in Los Angeles County judicial races as a public service to voters, officials said. Candidates are interviewed by a committee of attorneys, whose recommendations are released by the association's board of trustees.

Candidates receiving ratings other than "well qualified" can appeal their evaluations. The association only publicly releases the candidates' final ratings in early March.

Layton said he chose not to be interviewed this year by the bar association committee, saying he felt it would have been a "futile act to talk to trial lawyers about anything. They don't want somebody who's religious on the bench. They don't want somebody who's pro-life on the bench," Layton said.

Rex Heinke, chairman of the bar's judicial election evaluations committee, sent a Feb. 12 letter to Layton explaining the "not qualified" rating.

"You do not possess temperament or work ethic indicative of fitness to perform the judicial function satisfactorily," the letter said. "More specifically, the information before the committee indicated a lack of objectivity and rationality in evaluating issues and cases and bias."

Heinke said he could not comment on the committee's findings.

"He wasn't interviewed because he refused," Heinke said. "Beyond that, I can't go into why. We did conduct an independent investigation beyond the interview."

In 1994, when Layton said the real reason behind his unfavorable rating were his religious activities and anti-abortion views, bar association officials denied that influenced their decision, saying they did not rate candidates based on their political positions or their religion.

Layton said the association is further biased against him because he challenged the way committee members had "interrogated" him on his religious beliefs in the 1994 election.

"I have told them I didn't appreciate what they did to me in 1994, interrogating me about my religious beliefs and activities and abortion issues," Layton said. "I challenged them on that. That would be why they say I lack objectivity. I'm not supposed to challenge them."

He added he does not plan to appeal his tentative rating.

Layton owns and operates the Larry H. Layton School of Law. Layton has been in private practice since 1975, in Acton since 1987. In the 1980s he volunteered as judge pro tem, handling small claims, traffic and civil cases for the Los Angeles Judicial District.

The bar association said it judges candidates as "well-qualified" if they possess "professional ability, experience, competence, integrity and temperament indicative of superior fitness to perform the judicial function with a high degree of skill and effectiveness."

A "qualified" rating means the candidate possesses "professional ability, experience, competence, integrity and temperament indicative of fitness to perform the judicial function satisfactorily."

To be "not qualified," the candidate must "lack one or more of the qualities of professional ability, experience, competence, integrity and temperament indicative of fitness to perform the judicial function satisfactorily."

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Photo (Color) Larry Layton Seeks Antelope Municipal seat