Patricia Guerrero
2023 - Present
2035
2
Patricia Guerrero is the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. She assumed office on January 2, 2023. Her current term ends on January 8, 2035.
Guerrero ran for re-election as Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. She won in the retention election on November 8, 2022.
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.[1] 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.[2] To learn more about this appointment, click here.
Biography
Education
Guerrero received her B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley and her J.D. from Stanford Law School.[3]
Career
- 2022 - Present: Justice, California Supreme Court
- 2017-2022: Associate justice, California Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One (She was appointed to this court by Democratic Governor Jerry Brown in 2017, to fill the vacancy created by the death of Justice Alex McDonald.[4][5])
- 2013-2017: Judge, Superior Court of San Diego County, California (She was appointed to this court by Governor Jerry Brown on May 21, 2013, to succeed Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel.)
- 2003-2013: Lawyer, Latham and Watkins LLP
- 2002-2003: Lawyer, Southern District of California, U.S. Attorney's Office
- 1997-2001: Lawyer, Latham and Watkins LLP[3]
Elections
2022
Retention election
See also: California Supreme Court elections, 2022
California Supreme Court Chief Justice, Guerrero's seat
Patricia Guerrero was retained to Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court on November 8, 2022 with 70.9% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
70.9
|
6,194,671 | ||
No |
29.1
|
2,537,627 | |||
Total Votes |
8,732,298 | ||||
|
|
2018
California 4th District Court of Appeal Division 1
Patricia Guerrero was retained to Division 1 of the California 4th District Court of Appeal on November 6, 2018 with 70.7% of the vote.
Retention Vote |
% |
Votes |
|||
| ✔ | Yes |
70.7
|
1,729,135 | ||
No |
29.3
|
717,504 | |||
Total Votes |
2,446,639 | ||||
|
|
2014
See also: California judicial elections, 2014
Guerrero ran for re-election to the San Diego County Superior Court.
As an unopposed incumbent, she was automatically re-elected without appearing on the ballot.
[6]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Patricia Guerrero did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Appointments
2023
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) appointed Kelli M. Evans to the California Supreme Court effective January 2, 2023.[7] Evans succeeded Patricia Guerrero, who was nominated to the position of chief judge on the court on August 10, 2022.[7] 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.
2022
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) appointed Patricia Guerrero to the California Supreme Court on February 15, 2022. Guerrero succeeded Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, who retired on October 31, 2021, to become president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank.[8][2][9][10] Guerrero was Gov. Newsom's second nominee to the seven-member court.
At the time of the vacancy under California law, justices of the California Supreme Court were selected by gubernatorial appointment.
State supreme court judicial selection in California
- See also: Judicial selection in California
The seven justices of the California Supreme Court are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. The state bar's Commission on Judicial Nominee Evaluation—also known as the "Jenny Commission"—is required to perform an extensive investigation on prospective appointees. The commission recommends candidates to the governor after examining their qualifications and fitness, ranking them as exceptionally well qualified, well qualified, qualified, or not qualified. The commission is composed of attorneys and public members.[11][12] Although the governor is not bound to these recommendations, the Commission on Judicial Appointments can approve or veto the appointment by majority vote.[13]
Following confirmation from the Commission on Judicial Appointments, the appointed justice is sworn into office and is subject to voter approval at the next gubernatorial election. The appointed justice must be confirmed by voters via a yes-no retention election. According to the California Constitution, the term for a supreme court justice is 12 years. If retained by the voters, the appointed justice remains in office but their term may depend on their predecessor's term. If the predecessor served part of their term before leaving office, the appointed justice would be retained to serve the remainder of their predecessor's term. This would be for either four or eight years. At the end of that term, the justice again must be confirmed by the voters at a gubernatorial election to begin a new 12-year term.[14][15] If a justice has been appointed to a seat where the predecessor's term would have expired the January 1 immediately after that November gubernatorial election, then the justice would serve a full 12-year term.[16]
Qualifications
To serve as a justice, a candidate must have practiced law for at least 10 years in California or served as a judge in California for at least 10 years.[16]
Chief justice
The court uses the same process described above for selecting its chief justice. The governor, with commission approval, appoints a chief justice for a full 12-year term.[17]
Vacancies
Vacancies are filled by gubernatorial appointment. Appointed judges are required to participate in yes-no retention elections occurring at the time of the next gubernatorial race, which is held every four years.[16]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
|
Officeholder California Supreme Court Chief Justice |
Footnotes
- ↑ Cal Matters, "Newsom nominates a Latina to be California Supreme Court chief justice, a first," August 11, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cal Matters, "Newsom nominates first Latina to California Supreme Court," March 22, 2022 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "appt" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedpr - ↑ California Courts, "Commission Confirms Appointments to Courts of Appeal," December 14, 2017
- ↑ Office of Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., "Governor Brown Appoints Three District Court of Appeal Justices," November 2, 2017
- ↑ San Diego County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate list for June 3, 2014 primary election," accessed March 25, 2014
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, "Governor Newsom Announces Historic Supreme Court Nominations," August 10, 2022
- ↑ California Globe, "State Supreme Court Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar To Leave Court On October 31st," September 17, 2021
- ↑ CBS8, "Governor nominates San Diego judge to State Supreme Court," February 16, 2022
- ↑ The Sacramento Bee, "Fourth District Court of Appeal Justice Patricia Guerrero will be the first Latina to California Supreme Court," February 16, 2022
- ↑ The State Bar of California, "Background," accessed March 27, 2023
- ↑ The State Bar of California, "Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation," accessed March 27, 2023
- ↑ Brennan Center for Justice, "Judicial Selection: An Interactive Map," accessed March 23, 2023
- ↑ California Legislative Information, "Article VI Judicial Sec. 16.," accessed March 27, 2023
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Justices of the Supreme Court," accessed March 27, 2023
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 California Courts, "Judicial Selection: How California Chooses Its Judges and Justices," accessed March 27, 2023
- ↑ Justia, "Supreme Court of California Decisions," accessed March 27, 2023
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
| ||||||||||
 |
State of California Sacramento (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
