Before becoming the first Latina trial judge in California history, Frances Muñoz appeared in an Orange County courtroom as a public defender, representing a young Latino during his arraignment in a criminal case. Muñoz tried to persuade Judge Ken Williams, who had a reputation as a feisty and irreverent jurist, that her client should be released on his own recognizance. “If you’re so confident that he’s not a danger to society,” the judge countered, “I’ll release him to you.”