Democratic lawmakers are taking shots at the governor after the State Bar revealed this week that he appointed Republican businessman Elia Pirozzi to the San Bernardino County bench in May even after the Judicial Nominee Evaluation committee rated him "not qualified."

“Every time we’ve raised the issue of judicial diversity, the pushback is that the governor only looks for the most qualified applicants,” said Assemblyman Ted Lieu, D-Torrance.  “This punches a hole in that argument."

Lieu and three other chairmen of legislative minority caucuses recently asked the Legislature's leaders to cut money for 50 new judgeships from the budget on the grounds that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't naming enough women and ethnic minorities to the bench.

"At least now we know what our applicants did wrong," said Lieu, the incoming chairman of the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus. "They were qualified attorneys instead of Republican insiders."

You can hear the Schwarzenegger administration's response to such criticism here. It's an archived audiocast from this morning's broadcast of San Francisco radio station KQED's "Forum," where Schwarzenegger spokeswoman Sabrina Demayo Lockhart joined others involved in the debate over judicial diversity in an hour-long discussion.

—  Cheryl Miller