The Hon. Kathleen Blanchard is a judge for the Los Angeles County Superior Court in California. She was elected to the bench in June of 2008. She was subsequently appointed to the bench by former governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in July of that same year. She filled the vacancy created by the retirement of Michael Luros.
Then-governor Schwarzenegger's appointment allowed Blanchard to take the bench immediately.
She is a registered Democrat.
Judge Blanchard graduated magna cum laude with her B.A. from Cornell University in 1990. She went on to earn her J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law in 1993.
After graduating from law school, Blanchard joined the California Department of Justice's Office of the Attorney General as a deputy attorney general. During her time with the A.G., she was assigned to the Criminal Law Division as well as the Appeals, Writs, and Trials Section.
In 1998 Blanchard joined the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office as a deputy district attorney. In 2003, four and a half years into her decade long tenure with the D.A.'s office, Blanchard was assigned to the Hardcore Gang Unit. She was serving in that capacity at the time of her election to the Superior Court in 2008.
In 2006 she was named the Prosecutor of the Year.