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

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

  1. ^ "California Constitution". California Legislature. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Art. VI, Sec. 1.
  2. ^ "California Constitution". California Legislature. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Art. VI, Sec. 2, 7, 16(a).
  3. ^ "California Constitution". California Legislature. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Art. VI, Sec. 7.
  4. ^ a b "California Constitution". California Legislature. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Art. VI, Sec. 16.
  5. ^ "Chief Justice, Supreme Court of California salary". Publicpay.ca.gov. California State Controller. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  6. ^ a b "Records of the Constitutional Convention of 1849". California Secretary of State. Retrieved September 27, 2017. Art. VI, Sec. 2, 3.
  7. ^ a b The Supreme Court of California (PDF) (7th ed.). Sacramento, CA: Supreme Court of California. 2016. pp. 13, 16. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ "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.
  12. ^ a b "Two Justices Make History in California Supreme Court". KSRO. January 4, 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2023.

Sources

External links

Lists of justices of high courts of the United States
Categories