The Hon. John C. Lawson II is a judge for the Los Angeles County Superior Court in California. He succeeded the retiring Kathryne A. Stoltz in his appointment to the bench by former Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009.
He is a registered Democrat.
Judge Lawson received his bachelor's degree from Oberlin College. He went on to earn his J.D. from Howard University.
Lawson joined the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office in 1988 as a deputy public defender. He remained with the Public Defender's Office for 19 years, until he was named a court commissioner for the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2007.
During his time on the Superior Court, Judge Lawson has served as the supervising judge for the Juvenile Delinquency Court.
He has also presided over the Teen Court at Cabrillo High School in Long Beach, the program was established in 2012, and it allows teens with minor offenses to go before a jury of their peers instead of going through the court system.
In 2018, Judge Lawson received a Leadership Award from the Los Angeles County Deputy Probation Officers Union for his work with juveniles.