Lance Allan Ito (born August 2, 1950) is an American retired judge, best known for presiding over the criminal trial for the O. J. Simpson murder case, held in the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1995.

Ito attended John Marshall High School, where he was student body president and received the Scholar Athlete award in 1968.

[6][7] In 1992, he initially handled the indictment against Lyle and Erik Menendez, two brothers who were accused and later convicted of murdering their parents.

[11] During the trial, the prosecution requested that Ito recuse himself when it came to light that his wife, Margaret York, had been detective Mark Fuhrman's superior officer in the past.

He has used his status to work on issues of judicial reform, such as increasing the number of interpreters and enforcing rules for foreign-national defendants in the court.

[14] Los Angeles County announced in April 2012 that Ito's courtroom, along with 55 others, would be closed due to budget cuts.