California Supreme Court
| California Supreme Court |
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| Court Information |
| Justices: 7 |
| Founded: 1849 |
| Location: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento |
| Salary |
| Associates: $291,094[1] |
| Judicial Selection |
| Method: Direct gubernatorial appointment |
| Term: 12 years |
| Active justices |
| Carol Corrigan, Kelli M. Evans, Joshua Groban, Patricia Guerrero, Martin J. Jenkins, Leondra Kruger, Goodwin Liu |
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.[2]
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.[3] There are five states that use this selection method. To read more about the gubernatorial appointment of judges, click here.
Jurisdiction
Before the creation of the court of appeals in 1904, the supreme court was the only appellate body in the state. The newly created court of appeals was to handle the "ordinary current of cases," while the supreme court handled the "great and important" cases.[4] The supreme court created a policy of automatically tranferring all direct appeals to the court of appeals, except for "death penalty cases, cases of public importance, emergency matters, and cases involving questions similar to those in other pending litigation."[5] This system was officially adopted by a constitutional revision in 1966, and the supreme court continues to have broad discretion over what cases it reviews. The 1966 constitutional revision also provided that the supreme court has jurisdiction to resolve questions dealing with disability or vacancy of a governor.[6]
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 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 judgment 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.[7][8]
Decisions by the state supreme court are binding and apply to all other courts in the state. Only the supreme court may choose not to follow one of its previous decisions. The court has the power of Judicial review to invalidate a legislative or voter act on constitutional grounds. The court also has authority over the rules of practice and procedure for the courts, and it controls the admission of attorneys in the state bar.[9] Finally, the court has the power to order that an appeals court decision be published or not published, or to "depublish" all or part of a court of appeals opinion after granting a case review, thereby applying the decision only to the individual case.[10]
The following text from Article VI, Section 11 of the California Constitution covers the organization and jurisdiction of the court:
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(a) The Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction when judgment of death has been pronounced. With that exception courts of appeal have appellate jurisdiction when superior courts have original jurisdiction in causes of a type within the appellate jurisdiction of the courts of appeal on June 30, 1995, and in other causes prescribed by statute. When appellate jurisdiction in civil causes is determined by the amount in controversy, the Legislature may change the appellate jurisdiction of the courts of appeal by changing the jurisdictional amount in controversy. (b) Except as provided in subdivision (a), the appellate division of the superior court has appellate jurisdiction in causes prescribed by statute. (c) The Legislature may permit courts exercising appellate jurisdiction to take evidence and make findings of fact when jury trial is waived or not a matter of right. [11] |
” |
| —California Constitution, Article VI, Section 11 | ||
Justices
The table below lists the current judges of the California Supreme Court, their political party, and when they assumed office.
| Office | Name | Party | Date assumed office |
|---|---|---|---|
| California Supreme Court | Carol Corrigan | Nonpartisan | 2006 |
| California Supreme Court | Kelli M. Evans | Nonpartisan | January 2, 2023 |
| California Supreme Court | Joshua Groban | Nonpartisan | December 21, 2018 |
| California Supreme Court | Martin J. Jenkins | Nonpartisan | December 4, 2020 |
| California Supreme Court | Leondra Kruger | Nonpartisan | 2015 |
| California Supreme Court | Goodwin Liu | Nonpartisan | September 1, 2011 |
| California Supreme Court Chief Justice | Patricia Guerrero | Nonpartisan | January 2, 2023 |
Vacancies
As of January 2, 2023, there is one current vacancy on the California Supreme Court, out of the court's seven judicial positions.
Judicial selection
- 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.[12][13] Although the governor is not bound to these recommendations, the Commission on Judicial Appointments can approve or veto the appointment by majority vote.[14]
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.[15][16] 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.[17]
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.[17]
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.[18]
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.[17]
The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The salary of the chief justice may be higher than an associate justice.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Governing California, "The California Judiciary," accessed June 7, 2024
- ↑ Governing California, "The California Judiciary," accessed June 7, 2024
- ↑ Constitution Revision History and Perspective, "The Executive Branch," accessed June 7, 2024
- ↑ California Courts, "Supreme Court of California Booklet,"accessed August 18, 2021
- ↑ California Courts, "About the Supreme Court," accessed August 18, 2021
- ↑ Governing California, "The California Judiciary," accessed June 7, 2024
- ↑ Judicial Council of California, "2024 California Rules of Court," accessed June 7, 2024
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 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
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 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
- ↑ On July 27, 2022, Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye announced that she would not stand for retention to the office of Chief Justice.
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "California Supreme Court headed for change," April 4, 2014
- ↑ Stanford Law School, "Justice Goodwin Liu," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State Voter Guide, "Justices of the Supreme Court," accessed August 26, 2014
- ↑ California Courts, "Statewide Caseload Trends 2013–14 Through 2022–23," accessed September 24, 2024
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ The Court Balance Score is calculated by finding the average partisan Confidence Score of all justices on a state supreme court. For example, if a state has justices on the state supreme court with Confidence Scores of 4, -2, 2, 14, -2, 3, and 4, the Court Balance is the average of those scores: 3.3. Therefore, the Confidence Score on the court is Mild Republican. The use of positive and negative numbers in presenting both Confidence Scores and Court Balance Scores should not be understood to that either a Republican or Democratic score is positive or negative. The numerical values represent their distance from zero, not whether one score is better or worse than another.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 Justia', "Briggs v. Brown," August 24, 2017
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "California Supreme Court strikes down key provision of death penalty law," August 24, 2017
- ↑ The Los Angeles Times, "Gay marriage ban overturned," May 17, 2008
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Supreme Court Rules On Prop 8, Lets Gay Marriage Resume In California," June 26, 2013
- ↑ California Supreme Court Historical Society,"History of the California Supreme Court," accessed June 7, 2024
- ↑ California Supreme Court Historical Society,"History of the California Supreme Court," accessed June 7, 2024
- ↑ California Supreme Court Historical Society,"History of the California Supreme Court," accessed June 7, 2024
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedhistory - ↑ New York Times, "Rose Bird, Once California's Chief Justice, Is Dead at 63," December 6, 1999
- ↑ Women's Legal History, "Joyce L. Kennard," accessed August 18, 2021
- ↑ Courthouse News Service, "Cantil-Sakauye sworn-in as state Supreme Court chief justice," December 3, 2010
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
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