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The Supreme Court of California is the state supreme court in California. It is headquartered in San Francisco, and regularly holds sessions at its branch offices in Los Angeles, and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts.
Organization
The court consists of one Chief Justice and six Associate Justices who are appointed by the Governor of California for 12-year terms. The appointments are confirmed by the public at the next general election. The electorate has occasionally exercised this power to eject unpopular justices like Rose Bird.
According to the California Constitution, to be considered for an appointment, a person must be an attorney admitted to practice in California or have served as a judge of a California court for 10 years immediately preceding the appointment.
The court currently sits as a whole (all seven together) when hearing appeals. When there is an open seat on the court, or if a justice recused himself or herself on a given case, justices from the California Court of Appeal are assigned to join the court for individual cases, on a rotational basis. Prior to the 1960s, the court reviewed the vast majority of appeals in three-judge panels (like the federal Courts of Appeals).
The court has direct mandatory appellate jurisdiction in all California state death penalty cases. It has discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all cases reviewed by the California Court of Appeal.
The Chief Justice
Current Chief Justice Ronald M. George was appointed as the 27th Chief Justice of California on March 28, 1991 by Governor Pete Wilson. He was confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments on May 1, 1991, and took his oath the same day.
Ancillary responsibilities
The Supreme Court supervises the lower courts through the Judicial Council of California, and also supervises California's legal profession through the State Bar of California. All lawyer admissions and disbarments are done through recommendations of the State Bar, which are then routinely ratified by the Supreme Court. California's bar is the largest in the U.S. with 200,000 members, of whom 150,000 are actively practicing.
Political, gender, and ethnic diversity
The Court partially reflects the ethnic and gender diversity of the state it serves, though not its political diversity. There are two Asian-American justices (Chin and Kennard), one Hispanic justice (Moreno), and no African-American justices.
The Court currently has six Republicans (George, Kennard, Baxter, Werdegar, Chin, and Corrigan) and one Democrat (Moreno), although most of the Republicans tend to be moderate.
Three justices are female (Kennard, Werdegar, and Corrigan). One justice has a physical disability (Kennard).
Reputation and idiosyncrasies
Just as California has become famous worldwide for its innovations in agriculture, technology, and entertainment, its highest court has become famous for its innovations in jurisprudence. As the Wall Street Journal explained in 1972:
- This state's high court over the past 20 years has won a reputation as perhaps the most innovative of the state judiciaries, setting precedents in areas of criminal justice, civil liberties, racial integration, and consumer protection that heavily influence other states and the federal bench.
Also like the state it serves, the Court has a reputation for being unique in various odd ways. Both the California Supreme Court and all lower California state courts use a different writing style and citation system from the federal courts and many other state courts. The most obvious difference is that California citations always have the year between the names of the parties and the reference to the case reporter, as opposed to the national standard (the Bluebook) of putting the year at the end. For example, the famous case Marvin v. Marvin, which established the standard for non-marital partners' ability to sue for their contributions to the partnership, is rendered Marvin v. Marvin (1976) 18 Cal.3d 660 in California style, while it would be Marvin v. Marvin, 18 Cal. 3d 660 (1976), in Bluebook style.
While the U.S. Supreme Court justices indicate the author of an opinion and who has "joined" the opinion at the start of the opinion, California justices always sign a majority opinion at the end, followed by "WE CONCUR," and then the names of the joining justices. California judges are traditionally not supposed to use certain ungrammatical terms in their opinions, which has led to embarrassing fights between judges and the editor of the state's official reporters. California has abolished the use of certain French and Latin phrases like en banc, certiorari, and mandamus, so California judges and attorneys write "in bank," "review," and "mandate" instead.
Finally, the California Supreme Court has the power to "depublish" opinions by the California Courts of Appeal (as opposed to the federal practice of not publishing certain "unpublished" opinions at all in the federal case reporters). This means that even though the opinion has already been published in the official state reporters, it will be binding only upon the parties. Stare decisis does not apply, and any new rules articulated will not be applied in future cases. Similarly, the California Supreme Court has the power to "publish" opinions by the California Courts of Appeal which were initially not published.
Current justices
- Ronald M. George, (since 1991), Chief Justice (elevated in 1996)
- Marvin R. Baxter, (since 1991), Associate Justice
- Ming W. Chin, (since 1996), Associate Justice
- Carol A. Corrigan, (since 2006), Associate Justice
- Joyce L. Kennard, (since 1989), Associate Justice
- Carlos R. Moreno, (since 2001), Associate Justice
- Kathryn Mickle Werdegar, (since 1994), Associate Justice
Notable past justices
- Serranus Clinton Hastings, Chief Justice (1850-1852) (First Chief Justice, founded Hastings College of the Law)
- David S. Terry, Chief Justice (1857-1859) (Attempted to assassinate his successor, Stephen Field)
- Stephen J. Field, Chief Justice (1859-1863) (Appointed by President Lincoln to the U.S. Supreme Court)
- Curtis D. Wilbur, Chief Justice (1923-1924) (Appointed by President Coolidge as U.S. Secretary of the Navy)
- Mathew Tobriner, Associate Justice (1962-1982)
- Rose E. Bird, Chief Justice (1977-1987) (First woman appointed to the Court; only Chief Justice ever recalled by the electorate)
- Janice Rogers Brown, Associate Justice (1996-2005) (Appointed by President G.W. Bush to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals)
- Stanley Mosk, Associate Justice (1964-2001) (Longest serving justice)
- Roger J. Traynor, Chief Justice (1964-1970), Associate Justice (1940-1964) (Well-respected legal scholar)
- Wiley W. Manuel, Associate Justice (1977-1981) (First African-American on the Court; well-known for his pro bono work)
List of Chief Justices
| # | Name | Term |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Serranus Clinton Hastings | (1850-1852) |
| 2 | Henry A. Lyons | (1852) |
| 3 | Hugh C. Murray | (1852-1857) |
| 4 | David S. Terry | (1857-1859) |
| 5 | Stephen J. Field | (1859-1863) |
| 6 | W.W. Cope | (1863-1864) |
| 7 | Silas W. Sanderson | (1864-1866) |
| 8 | John Currey | (1866-1868) |
| 9 | Lorenzo Sawyer | (1868-1870) |
| 10 | Augustus L. Rhodes | (1870-1872) |
| 11 | Royal T. Sprague | (1872) |
| 12 | William T. Wallace | (1872-1879) |
| 13 | Robert F. Morrison | (1879-1887) |
| 14 | Niles Searls | (1887-1889) |
| 15 | William H. Beatty | (1889-1914) |
| 16 | Matt I. Sullivan | (1914-1915) |
| 17 | Frank M. Angellotti | (1915-1921) |
| 18 | Lucien Shaw | (1921-1923) |
| 19 | Curtis D. Wilbur | (1923-1924) |
| 20 | Louis W. Myers | (1924-1926) |
| 21 | William H. Waste | (1926-1940) |
| 22 | Phil S. Gibson | (1940-1964) |
| 23 | Roger J. Traynor | (1964-1970) |
| 24 | Donald R. Wright | (1970-1977) |
| 25 | Rose Elizabeth Bird | (1977-1987) |
| 26 | Malcolm M. Lucas | (1987-1996) |
| 27 | Ronald M. George | (1996-present) |
References
Joann Lublin, "Trailblazing Bench: California High Court Often Points the Way for Judges Elsewhere," Wall Street Journal, 20 July 1972, 1.
External links
"Supreme Court of California"