Municipal Judge Elizabeth Allen with students in LAHS Teacher Lori Thompson’s Sports Lit class. Courtesy/LAPS
By Blake King and Logan Swickley
Los Alamos High School
Sports Lit Students
Municipal Judge Elizabeth Allen has been one of the leading judges for Los Alamos County since 2018. Before she became Municipal Judge, she attended the Pepperdine School of Law in Malibu, Calif., during which, she attained her law degree. She spent 7-8 years as a prosecuting attorney, a defense attorney and a sole practitioner.
Throughout her career, Allen has served in a variety of roles in the justice system, proving that she is a very helpful source to the community around her.
When sentencing crimes, Allen strives to restore people in the community whenever possible. For example, she works through issues by using the “Standard of Proof” to decide beyond a reasonable doubt. She has very difficult decisions that have to be made every single day. These decisions can vastly alter someone’s life; whether they get assigned to 20 hours community service, or 20 years in prison can weigh deeply on the soul when making these decisions.
Personal beliefs or ideals should not affect discipline, as Allen said, “I don’t care if you have differing opinions than anyone. It can never lead to hitting someone.”
Allen said that you must retain the structure of your community, maintaining civil debates without violence. You must think about what punishment would be most beneficial to restoring the surrounding community to be whole again; additionally, you must think about what would convey the idea that this is not right. People must learn from their mistakes to help them grow and evolve.
When there are issues within a community, it’s very easy to place the blame on someone, or one specific thing, but the cause of these issues is nearly always much deeper than that, Allen said. She added that before any decisions are made, you must look at the in-depth reasoning behind the issue. When more repair is needed in addition to a punishment, it is a judge’s job to find a solution. This is demonstrated by Allen’s knowledge.
“Through a lot of problem-solving and trying to figure out solutions and then building programs including them (the solutions),” she said.
These solutions can be in forms of a communal gathering to increase morale and people’s sense of togetherness, Allen said. Though at other times it can be a new law or bill passed that will begin to repair what had been lost in the issue.
Our time with Judge Elizabeth Allen gave us essential insights into what types of decision making a judge must do on a daily basis. Whether it’s assigning community service hours or creating new programs to assist in boosting the community as a whole, a judge makes many more decisions that do not involve criminal punishments; alternatively, enhancing the community to make it a better place for everyone.