Judy Hails

Judy Hails

Judy was a deputy sheriff in the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, serving from February 1968 to the summer of 1973. She earned an undergraduate degree in mathematics after she graduated from the academy and, Judy was assigned to the LASD’s research unit to work as a statistician. She eventually assumed the position of Acting Senior Statistician and was promoted to the rank of sergeant. Judy wanted to work in the department’s legal section, but was not permitted to do so because she lacked patrol experience. While working on her master’s degree in criminology in 1969, Judy began teaching statistics at CSULB as a part- time instructor in the Department of Criminology (now the Department of Criminal Justice). She became tenure-track faculty member in the Department in 1972. While teaching full-time at CSULB, Judy attended night classes at Southwestern University Law School and earned her J.D. During her first sabbatical leave, Judy went back to school and earned a Master of Law degree (LL.M.) from New York University. She has written several books on criminal procedure and evidence and has been a volunteer assistant coach for the nationally-recognized CSULB Moot Court team since Fall 2009.

Judy has been instrumental in helping the Department of Criminal Justice evolve from its early roots. She was one of first female deputy sheriffs at a time when law enforcement was overwhelming male. She was also one of the first women hired to teach in the in the Department of Criminal Justice at CSULB. During her 42-year tenure, Judy served as the Department’s undergraduate advisor, then had the distinction of being the first and only woman to serve as the department chair—a position she held for nine years. Judy is currently working on her marriage and family therapist license and is serving as an MFT intern at Living Success Center in Costa Mesa, California.

Judy Hails knows from firsthand experience what it is like for students who struggle to fulfill a myriad of academic, work, and personal commitments. That is why Judy decided to endow the Judy Hails Criminal Justice Endowed Student Award in 2013. She knows there are many criminal justice students who struggle to balance the demands of life on and off-campus, especially those who are single custodial parents.