The Supreme Court of California is the highest judicial body in the state and sits at the apex of the judiciary of California. [1] Its membership consists of the Chief Justice of California and six associate justices who are nominated by the Governor of California and appointed after confirmation by the California Commission on Judicial Appointments. [2] The Commission consists of the Chief Justice, the Attorney General of California, and the state's senior presiding justice of the California Courts of Appeal; the senior Associate Justice fills the Chief Justice's spot on the commission when a new Chief Justice is nominated. [3] Justices of the Supreme Court serve 12-year terms and receive a salary which is currently set at $250,075 per year for the Chief Justice and between $228,703 and $236,260 per year for each associate justice. [4] [5]
Under the 1849 Constitution of California, the Supreme Court had a chief justice and two associate justices, with six-year terms of office. [6] An 1862 constitutional amendment expanded the Court to a Chief Justice and four associate justices, with 10-year terms. [7] Since the adoption of the 1879 Constitution, the Court has had a chief justice and six associate justices, with 12-year terms. [4]
The 1849 Constitution specified that the first Supreme Court justices would be appointed by the Legislature and that the justices would be subject to partisan direct elections from that point forward. [6] The Governor could appoint justices in the event of a vacancy on the Court in between the elections. In 1910, elections for the Supreme Court became nonpartisan. [8] In 1934, the state implemented the present system of gubernatorial appointment with retention elections, replacing the direct election of justices. [7]
List of justices
- Chief Justice Jackson Temple did not seek re-election in 1871, was elected as an associate justice in 1886 but resigned in 1889, and was again elected as an associate justice in 1895 serving (until his death in 1902). Therefore, he is listed three times.
- * denotes justices who served as chief justice for at least part of their tenure on the court while denotes currently-serving justices.
| Name | Assumed office | Vacated office | Appointed by |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Clinton Hastings* | December 22, 1849 | January 1, 1852 | Legislature |
| Nathaniel Bennett | December 26, 1849 | October 3, 1851 | Legislature |
| Henry A. Lyons* | December 26, 1849 | March 31, 1852 | Legislature |
| Hugh Murray* | October 11, 1851 | September 18, 1857 | John McDougall |
| Solomon Heydenfeldt | January 20, 1852 | January 6, 1857 | Direct election |
| Alexander O. Anderson | April 6, 1852 | November 2, 1852 | John Bigler |
| Alexander Wells | January 3, 1853 | October 31, 1854 | Direct election |
| Charles Henry Bryan | November 24, 1854 | November 15, 1855 | John Bigler |
| David S. Terry* | November 15, 1855 | September 12, 1859 | Direct election |
| Peter Hardeman Burnett | January 13, 1857 | October 12, 1857 | J. N. Johnson |
| Stephen Johnson Field* | October 13, 1857 | May 20, 1863 | J. N. Johnson |
| Joseph G. Baldwin | October 2, 1858 | January 2, 1862 | Direct election |
| Warner Cope* | September 20, 1859 | January 2, 1864 | John B. Weller |
| Edward Norton | December 18, 1861 | January 2, 1864 | Direct election |
| Edwin B. Crocker | May 21, 1863 | January 2, 1864 | Leland Stanford |
| John Currey* | January 2, 1864 | January 6, 1868 | Direct election |
| Augustus Rhodes* | January 2, 1864 | January 5, 1880 | Direct election |
| Silas Sanderson* | January 2, 1864 | January 4, 1870 | Direct election |
| Lorenzo Sawyer* | January 2, 1864 | January 10, 1870 | Direct election |
| Oscar L. Shafter | January 2, 1864 | December 11, 1867 | Direct election |
| Joseph B. Crockett | December 1867 | January 5, 1880 | Henry Huntly Haight |
| Royal T. Sprague* | January 6, 1868 | February 24, 1872 | Direct election |
| William T. Wallace | January 10, 1870 | January 5, 1880 | Direct election |
| Jackson Temple | January 10, 1870 | January 1, 1872 | Henry Huntly Haight |
| Addison Niles | January 1, 1872 | January 5, 1880 | Direct election |
| Isaac S. Belcher | March 4, 1872 | January 5, 1874 | Newton Booth |
| Elisha W. McKinstry | January 5, 1874 | October 1, 1888 | Direct election |
| Robert F. Morrison* | January 5, 1880 | March 2, 1887 | Direct election |
| Samuel B. McKee | January 5, 1880 | January 3, 1887 | Direct election |
| Milton H. Myrick | January 5, 1880 | January 3, 1887 | Direct election |
| Erskine M. Ross | January 5, 1880 | October 1, 1886 | Direct election |
| John Sharpstein | January 5, 1880 | December 28, 1892 | Direct election |
| James D. Thornton | January 5, 1880 | January 5, 1891 | Direct election |
| Jackson Temple | December 13, 1886 | June 25, 1889 | Direct election |
| Van R. Paterson | December 22, 1886 | May 3, 1894 | Direct election |
| Thomas Bard McFarland | December 28, 1886 | September 1908 | Direct election |
| Niles Searls* | April 20, 1887 | November 6, 1888 | Washington Bartlett |
| John D. Works | October 2, 1888 | January 5, 1891 | Robert Waterman |
| William H. Beatty* | November 6, 1888 | August 4, 1914 | Direct election |
| Charles N. Fox | June 25, 1889 | January 7, 1895 | Robert Waterman |
| John J. De Haven | December 18, 1890 | January 7, 1895 | Direct election |
| Charles H. Garoute | December 19, 1890 | January 5, 1903 | Direct election |
| Ralph C. Harrison | December 20, 1890 | January 5, 1903 | Direct election |
| William F. Fitzgerald | February 2, 1893 | January 7, 1895 | Henry Markham |
| William C. Van Fleet | May 7, 1894 | January 3, 1899 | Henry Markham |
| Frederick W. Henshaw | December 29, 1894 | January 1, 1918 | Direct election |
| Jackson Temple | January 7, 1895 | December 25, 1902 | Direct election |
| Walter Van Dyke | December 22, 1898 | December 25, 1905 | Direct election |
| Frank M. Angellotti* | December 11, 1902 | November 15, 1921 | Direct election |
| Lucien Shaw* | December 11, 1902 | January 1923 | Direct election |
| William G. Lorigan | January 7, 1903 | January 1919 | Henry Gage |
| M. C. Sloss | December 19, 1906 | March 1, 1919 | George Pardee |
| Henry A. Melvin | September 28, 1908 | December 1920 | Direct election |
| Matt Sullivan* | August 22, 1914 | January 4, 1915 | Hiram Johnson |
| William P. Lawlor | January 3, 1915 | July 25, 1926 | Direct election |
| Curtis D. Wilbur* | January 1, 1918 | March 19, 1924 | William Stephens |
| Thomas J. Lennon | December 20, 1918 | August 14, 1926 | Direct election |
| Warren Olney Jr. | March 1, 1919 | July 1921 | William Stephens |
| William A. Sloane | May 15, 1920 | January 7, 1923 | William Stephens |
| Charles A. Shurtleff | July 2, 1921 | December 1922 | William Stephens |
| William H. Waste* | November 25, 1921 | June 6, 1940 | William Stephens |
| Terry W. Ward | December 19, 1922 | January 8, 1923 | Direct election |
| Frank H. Kerrigan | January 8, 1923 | February 11, 1924 | Direct election |
| Emmett Seawell | January 8, 1923 | July 7, 1939 | Direct election |
| Louis Wescott Myers* | January 15, 1923 | January 1, 1926 | Friend Richardson |
| John E. Richards | February 11, 1924 | December 1932 | Friend Richardson |
| John W. Shenk | April 14, 1924 | August 3, 1959 | Friend Richardson |
| Jesse W. Curtis Sr. | January 1, 1926 | January 1, 1945 | Friend Richardson |
| Frank G. Finlayson | October 4, 1926 | December 11, 1926 | Friend Richardson |
| Jeremiah F. Sullivan | November 22, 1926 | December 1926 | Friend Richardson |
| John W. Preston | December 27, 1926 | October 6, 1935 | Direct election |
| William Langdon | January 4, 1927 | August 1939 | Direct election |
| Ira F. Thompson | December 31, 1932 | August 4, 1937 | James Rolph Jr. |
| Nathaniel P. Conrey | October 6, 1935 | November 2, 1936 | Frank Merriam |
| Douglas L. Edmonds | November 23, 1936 | December 31, 1955 | Frank Merriam |
| Frederick W. Houser | October 1, 1937 | October 12, 1942 | Frank Merriam |
| Jesse W. Carter | September 12, 1939 | March 15, 1959 | Culbert Olson |
| Phil S. Gibson* | October 2, 1939 | August 30, 1964 | Culbert Olson |
| Roger J. Traynor* | August 13, 1940 | January 31, 1970 | Culbert Olson |
| B. Rey Schauer | December 18, 1942 | September 15, 1964 | Culbert Olson |
| Homer R. Spence | January 2, 1945 | June 1, 1960 | Earl Warren |
| Marshall F. McComb | January 3, 1956 | May 3, 1977 | Goodwin Knight |
| Raymond E. Peters | March 25, 1959 | January 2, 1973 | Pat Brown |
| Thomas P. White | August 25, 1959 | October 31, 1962 | Pat Brown |
| Maurice T. Dooling Jr. | June 30, 1960 | June 30, 1962 | Pat Brown |
| Mathew Tobriner | July 2, 1962 | January 20, 1981 | Pat Brown |
| Paul Peek | December 2, 1962 | December 16, 1966 | Pat Brown |
| Stanley Mosk | September 1, 1964 | June 19, 2001 | Pat Brown |
| Louis H. Burke | November 20, 1964 | November 30, 1974 | Pat Brown |
| Raymond L. Sullivan | December 20, 1966 | January 19, 1977 | Pat Brown |
| Donald Wright* | April 17, 1970 | February 1, 1977 | Ronald Reagan |
| William P. Clark Jr. | March 23, 1973 | March 24, 1981 | Ronald Reagan |
| Frank K. Richardson | December 2, 1974 | December 2, 1983 | Ronald Reagan |
| Wiley Manuel | March 24, 1977 | January 5, 1981 | Jerry Brown |
| Rose Bird* | March 26, 1977 | January 5, 1987 | Jerry Brown |
| Frank C. Newman | July 16, 1977 | December 13, 1982 | Jerry Brown |
| Otto Kaus | July 21, 1981 | October 16, 1985 | Jerry Brown |
| Allen Broussard | July 22, 1981 | August 31, 1991 | Jerry Brown |
| Cruz Reynoso | February 11, 1982 | January 4, 1987 | Jerry Brown |
| Joseph Grodin | December 27, 1982 | January 5, 1987 | Jerry Brown |
| Malcolm M. Lucas* | April 6, 1984 | May 1, 1996 | George Deukmejian |
| Edward A. Panelli | December 24, 1985 | May 3, 1994 | George Deukmejian |
| John Arguelles | March 18, 1987 | March 1, 1989 | George Deukmejian |
| David Eagleson | March 18, 1987 | January 6, 1991 | George Deukmejian |
| Marcus Kaufman | March 18, 1987 | January 31, 1990 | George Deukmejian |
| Joyce L. Kennard | April 5, 1989 | April 5, 2014 | George Deukmejian |
| Armand Arabian | March 1, 1990 | March 1, 1996 | George Deukmejian |
| Marvin R. Baxter | January 7, 1991 | January 5, 2015 | George Deukmejian |
| Ronald M. George* | September 3, 1991 | January 3, 2011 | Pete Wilson |
| Kathryn Werdegar | May 3, 1994 | August 31, 2017 | Pete Wilson |
| Janice Rogers Brown | May 2, 1996 | June 30, 2005 | Pete Wilson |
| Ming Chin | March 1, 1996 | August 31, 2020 | Pete Wilson |
| Carlos R. Moreno | October 18, 2001 | February 28, 2011 | Gray Davis |
| Carol Corrigan | January 4, 2006 | Present | Arnold Schwarzenegger |
| Tani Cantil-Sakauye* | January 3, 2011 | January 1, 2023 | Arnold Schwarzenegger |
| Goodwin Liu | September 1, 2011 | Present | Jerry Brown |
| Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar | January 5, 2015 | October 31, 2021 | Jerry Brown |
| Leondra R. Kruger | January 5, 2015 [9] | Present | Jerry Brown |
| Joshua P. Groban | January 3, 2019 [10] | Present | Jerry Brown |
| Martin Jenkins | December 4, 2020 [11] | Present | Gavin Newsom |
| Patricia Guerrero* | March 29, 2022 [12] | Present | Gavin Newsom |
| Kelli Evans | January 2, 2023 [12] | Present | Gavin Newsom |
References
- ^ "California Constitution". California Legislature. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Art. VI, Sec. 1.
- ^ "California Constitution". California Legislature. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Art. VI, Sec. 2, 7, 16(a).
- ^ "California Constitution". California Legislature. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Art. VI, Sec. 7.
- ^ a b "California Constitution". California Legislature. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Art. VI, Sec. 16.
- ^ "Chief Justice, Supreme Court of California salary". Publicpay.ca.gov. California State Controller. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
- ^ a b "Records of the Constitutional Convention of 1849". California Secretary of State. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Art. VI, Sec. 2, 3.
- ^ a b The Supreme Court of California (PDF) (7th ed.). Sacramento, CA: Supreme Court of California. 2016. pp. 13, 16. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ "Happy Trails, Justice Werdegar". California Constitution Center at UC Berkeley Law and the Hastings Law Journal. SCOCA Blog. March 17, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
- ^ "Governor Brown to Swear In Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar and Leondra Kruger to the California Supreme Court" (Press release). Sacramento, California. Governor of California. 2014-12-22. Retrieved 2014-12-24.
- ^ Luna, Taryn (January 3, 2019). "Joshua Groban, aide to Gov. Jerry Brown, sworn in to California Supreme Court". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
- ^ "Governor Newsom Swears in Justice Martin Jenkins to the California Supreme Court" (Press release). Sacramento, California. Governor of California. 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
- ^ a b "Two Justices Make History in California Supreme Court". KSRO. January 4, 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023.
Sources
- Johnson, J. Edward (1963). History of the Supreme Court Justices of California, 1850-1900, Volume 1 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bender-Moss. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 27, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- Johnson, J. Edward (1966). History of Supreme Court Justices of California, 1900-1950, Volume 2 (PDF). San Francisco, CA: Bancroft-Whitney Co. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 25, 2017. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- Shuck, Oscar T. (1901). History of the bench and bar of California. Los Angeles: Commercial Printing House. pp. 349–354. ISBN 9781584777069.
- Rodman, Willoughby (1909). History of the bench and bar of southern California. Los Angeles: William J. Porter. p. 119.
- Wilson, E. Dotson; Brian S. Ebbert (2006). California's Legislature (PDF). Sacramento: California State Assembly. pp. 262–263.
External links
- California Courts Past & Present Justices
- California Supreme Court Justices from the California Supreme Court Historical Society
- Supreme Court of California