California Supreme Court justice vacancy (January 2023)
| California Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Guerrero vacancy |
| Date: January 2, 2023 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Kelli M. Evans |
| Date: August 10, 2022 |
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) appointed Kelli M. Evans to the California Supreme Court effective January 2, 2023.[1] Evans succeeded Patricia Guerrero, who was nominated to the position of chief judge on the court on August 10, 2022.[1] Evans was Gov. Newsom's third nominee to the seven-member court.
At the time of the vacancy under California law, vacancies were filled by gubernatorial appointment. Appointed judges were required to participate in yes-no retention elections at the time of the next gubernatorial race, held every four years.
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the California Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2023.
The appointee
- See also: Kelli M. Evans
Evans served as an Assistant Public Defender at the Sacramento County Public Defender’s Office in 1995, as an Attorney for the ACLU of Northern California from 1995 to 1998, and as a Senior Trial Attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice from 1998 to 2001.
From 2001 to 2004, she worked as an Associate at Relman and Associates. From 2006 to 2010, she worked as a Partner at Independent Assessment & Monitoring LLP. In 2010, Evans returned to the ACLU of Northern California to work as Associate Director until 2013. She was Senior Director for the Administration of Justice at the California State Bar from 2014 to 2017 and then Special Assistant to the Attorney General at the California Department of Justice from 2017 to 2019.
From 2019 to 2020, Evans worked as Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary for Criminal Justice in the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, where she worked as Chief Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary from 2020 to 2021.[2]
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in California
At the time of the appointment, vacancies were filled via gubernatorial appointment. Appointed judges were required to participate in yes-no retention elections at the time of the next gubernatorial race, held every four years.[3]
Makeup of the court
- See also: California Supreme Court
Justices
Following Guerrero's elevation, the California Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ Patricia Guerrero | Appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in 2022 | |
| ■ Martin J. Jenkins | Appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in 2020 | |
| ■ Joshua Groban | Appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2018 | |
| ■ Goodwin Liu | Appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2011 | |
| ■ Leondra Kruger | Appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2014 | |
| ■ Carol Corrigan | Appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in 2005 |
About the court
Founded in 1849, the California Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has seven judgeships. The current chief of the court is Patricia Guerrero.
As of January 2023, six judges on the court were appointed by Democratic governors and one judge was appointed by a Republican governor.
The California Supreme Court holds regular sessions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Sacramento.[4]
In California, state supreme court justices are selected through direct gubernatorial appointment. Justices are appointed directly by the governor without the use of a nominating commission.[5] There are five states that use this selection method. To read more about the gubernatorial appointment of judges, click here.
About Justice Guerrero
- See also: Patricia Guerrero
Guerrero is the chief justice of the California Supreme Court. She was appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on August 10, 2022, to succeed Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.[6] Guerrero was retained by voters in November 2022 and began serving as chief justice in January 2023. To learn more about this appointment, click here.
Guerrero was appointed as an associate justice of the California Supreme Court by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) on February 15, 2022, to replace Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar. The Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed Guerrero's appointment on March 22, 2022.[7] To learn more about this appointment, click here.
Other state supreme court appointments in 2023
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2023
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2023. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2022.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, "Governor Newsom Announces Historic Supreme Court Nominations," August 10, 2022
- ↑ Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, "Governor Newsom Announces Judicial Appointments 7.9.21," accessed June 27, 2022
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: California," accessed October 2, 2014
- ↑ Courts Newsroom, "California Supreme Court," accessed August 17, 2021
- ↑ Note: In New Hampshire, a judicial selection commission has been established by executive order. The commission's recommendations are not binding.
- ↑ Cal Matters, "Newsom nominates a Latina to be California Supreme Court chief justice, a first," August 11, 2022
- ↑ Cal Matters, "Newsom nominates first Latina to California Supreme Court," March 22, 2022
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California
State courts:
California Supreme Court • California Courts of Appeal • California Superior Courts
State resources:
Courts in California • California judicial elections • Judicial selection in California
| |||||||
