California Supreme Court

California Supreme Court
Court information
Justices:	7
Founded:	1849
Salary
Chief:	$232,060
Associates:	$221,292
Judicial selection
Method:	Gubernatorial appointment of judges
Term:	12 years
Active justices
Kathryn Mickle Werdegar  •  Ming Chin  •  Carol Corrigan  •  Goodwin Liu  •  Tani Cantil-Sakauye  •  Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar  •  Leondra Kruger  •

Founded in 1849, the California Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort. The court is composed of a chief justice and six associate justices, who are appointed by the governor to 12-year terms. Appointments must be confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. The court has jurisdiction to review any ruling of the California Courts of Appeal, and also handles misconduct cases and discipline of state attorneys and judges.^[1]

Justices

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in California

Justices of the California Supreme Court are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. The appointment of a justice must be confirmed via retention referendum at the next gubernatorial election. Incumbent justices stand for retention at the end of their 12-year terms.^[2]

Qualifications

To be considered as a candidate for an appointment a person must:

• Be an attorney admitted to practice law in California for the last ten years
• Or have served as a judge of a California court for the last ten years^[2]

Chief justice

The position of chief justice is selected in the same way justices are chosen: appointment from the governor and confirmation of the Commission on Judicial Appointments.^[3]

Jurisdiction

The California Constitution gives the supreme court jurisdiction in mandamus, certiorari, habeas corpus and prohibition cases. The California Supreme Court chooses cases that address legal issues that are relevant and significant across the state. The court has appellate jurisdiction to review parts of or entire cases brought before the California Courts of Appeal or any ruling that results in a judgement of death. The court also reviews the recommendations from the Commission on Judicial Performance and from the California State Bar for misconduct and disciplinary hearings. The Public Utilities Commission is the only entity that appeals directly to the supreme court.^[2][1]

Justices of the California Supreme Court, as of February 2017

Caseloads

^{[4][5][6][7][8]}

Elections

2014

Judge	Election Vote
CuéllarMariano-Florentino Cuéllar	67.7% A
LiuGoodwin Liu	67.1% A
WerdegarKathryn Mickle Werdegar	72.6% A

Justice Werdegar, 78 at the time, was retained along with Justice Liu, who was 44 at the time of the election. Liu was appointed in 2011 and won his first full term in 2014.^[9][10] Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar was appointed to the court by Governor Jerry Brown in July 2014, and was retained to a full term in November 2014.^[11]

See also: California judicial elections, 2014.

2010

California Supreme Court, Chief Justice 2010 General election results Candidates Votes Percent Tani Cantil-Sakauye 4,772,376 67.1% Against retention 2,345,611 32.9% California Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2010 General election results Candidates Votes Percent Ming Chin 4,599,967 65.5% Against retention 2,427,421 34.5% Click here for 2010 General Election Results from the California Secretary of State.

2006

California Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2006 General election results Candidates Votes Percent Joyce Kennard 4,395,470 74.6% Against retention 1,501,183 25.4% California Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2006 General election results Candidates Votes Percent Carol Corrigan 4,304,376 74.4% Against retention 1,483,509 25.6% Click here for 2006 General Election Results from the California Secretary of State.

2002

California Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2002 General election results Candidates Votes Percent Kathryn M. Werdegar 3,776,837 74.2% Against retention 1,318,662 25.8% California Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2002 General election results Candidates Votes Percent Marvin Baxter 3,523,077 71.6% Against retention 1,399,418 28.4% Click here for 2002 General Election Results from the California Secretary of State.

Political outlook

See also: Political ideology of State Supreme Court Justices

In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan outlook of state supreme court justices in their paper, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns." A score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology while scores below 0 were more liberal. The state Supreme Court of California was given a campaign finance score (CFscore), which was calculated for judges in October 2012. At that time, California received a score of -0.32. Based on the justices selected, California was the 14th most liberal court. The study is based on data from campaign contributions by judges themselves, the partisan leaning of contributors to the judges, or—in the absence of elections—the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study is not a definitive label of a justice but rather an academic gauge of various factors.^[12]

Ethics

Judicial conduct

The California Code of Judicial Conduct is composed of six canons:

Read the code in its entirety here.

Removal of justices

Justices may be removed in one of three ways:

• By retention election
• Impeachment by the state assembly with a two-thirds vote by the state senate
• Removed by recommendation of the California Commission on Judicial Performance following an investigation of judicial misconduct that gives the commission authority to "admonish, suspend, censure, retire, or remove a judge"^[15]

Financial disclosure

See also: Center for Public Integrity Study on State Supreme Court Disclosure Requirements

In December 2013, the Center for Public Integrity released a study on disclosure requirements for state supreme court judges. Analysts from the Center reviewed the rules governing financial disclosure in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as personal financial disclosures for the past three years. The study found that 42 states and Washington, D.C., received failing grades. California earned a grade of C in the study. No state received a grade higher than "C." Furthermore, due in part to these lax disclosure standards, the study found 35 instances of questionable gifts, investments overlapping with caseloads and similar potential ethical quandaries. The study also noted 14 cases in which justices participated although they or their spouses held stock in the company involved in the litigation.^[16]

Notable cases

A University of California at Davis Study "Followed Rates” and Leading State Cases, 1940-2005, details that many notable California Supreme Court rulings are subsequently followed in other state courts. This study discusses many notable rulings and their successors in other states.

History

• 1849: The Constitution of California created the state supreme court with a chief justice and two associate justices who would be elected by a lesislative vote.
• 1862: With an amendment to the constitution, the court was given jurisdiction to hear a wider variety of cases, and the number of justices was increased to five. Terms of the justices were increased from six to 10 years.
• 1879: The number of justices was increased to seven, with term limits increased to 12 years.
• 1926: The Judicial Council of California was established.^[19]

Location of the court

Earl Warren Building

The California Supreme Court meets in the Earl Warren Building in San Francisco, California.

The first court convened in San Francisco and remained there until 1854. In that year, legislative mandate required the court to relocate to the to-be-determined state capitol. The court moved to Sacramento in 1855, and returned to San Francisco in the 1870s. In 1874, the state legislature ordered that the court would hear cases for two months of each year in both San Francisco and Sacramento.^[19]

Notable firsts

• 1977: Rose Bird became the first female justice to serve on the court. She was also the court's first female chief justice.^[20]
• 1989: Justice Joyce Kennard was the first Asian-American, and only the second woman, to serve on the court.^[21][22]
• 2010: Tani Cantil-Sakauye became the first non-Caucasian to serve as chief justice of the court.^[23]

Former justices

See also

California	Judicial Selection	More Courts
Courts in California California Supreme Court	Elections: 2013 • 2014 • 2015 Gubernatorial Appointments Judicial Selection in California	Federal Courts Other State Courts Local Courts

External links

• California Courts, "Supreme Court of California"
• California Courts, "Justices of the Supreme Court"

Footnotes

v • e California Supreme Court
Current	Kathryn Mickle Werdegar  •  Ming Chin  •  Carol Corrigan  •  Goodwin Liu  •  Tani Cantil-Sakauye  •  Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar  •  Leondra Kruger  •
Former	Annette Abbott Adams  •  Alexander O. Anderson  •  Frank M. Angellotti  •  Rose Bird  •  Carlos Moreno  •  Marvin Baxter  •  Joyce Kennard  •  Ronald George  •  Malcolm Lucas  •  Serranus Clinton Hastings  •