The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building,but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento. Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts. Since 1850,the court has issued many influential decisions in a variety of areas including torts,property,civil and constitutional rights,and criminal law.
Cruz Reynoso was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist.
Charles S. "Chuck" "Pooch" Poochigian is an American jurist serving as Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal. A member of the Republican Party,he is also a former California State Senator.
Martin Joseph Jenkins is an American attorney and jurist serving as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California. He was previously a justice of the California Court of Appeal for the First District,located in San Francisco,and a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.
Joseph Raymond Grodin is a lawyer,law professor,and a former Presiding Justice of the California Court of Appeal and an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California. Grodin lost his Supreme Court seat in a contentious 1986 retention election that also removed Justice Cruz Reynoso and Chief Justice Rose Bird.
Kathryn Jocelyn Mickle Werdegar is a former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California,serving from June 3,1994,to August 31,2017.
Goodwin Hon Liu is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California. Before his appointment by California Governor Jerry Brown,Liu was Associate Dean and Professor of Law at the University of California,Berkeley School of Law. Liu has been recognized for his writing on constitutional law,education policy,civil rights,and the Supreme Court.
Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye is an American lawyer and jurist who was the 28th Chief Justice of California and is the president/CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California. She was nominated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as chief justice on July 22,2010,and retained in office by California voters on November 2,2010,she was sworn in on January 3,2011 as California's first Filipino and first woman of color to serve as California's Chief Justice. Prior to her appointment as chief justice,Cantil-Sakauye had served in judicial offices on California's appellate and trial courts. On July 27,2022,she announced she would retire and not run for another 12 year term on the court in November and step down on January 1,2023,leaving Governor Newsom to appoint her replacement. On September 28,2022,the Public Policy Institute of California announced that Cantil-Sakauye would become its president and chief executive officer,effective January 1,2023. On September 21,2023,the Judicial Council of California voted unanimously to name the new Sacramento County courthouse after former Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.
Mariano-Florentino "Tino" Cuéllar is an American scholar,academic leader,public official,jurist,and nonprofit executive currently serving as the 10th president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was previously a Justice of the Supreme Court of California,the Stanley Morrison Professor of Law at Stanford University and director of Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies,co-chair of the U.S. Department of Education's Equity and Excellence Commission,and an executive branch official in the Clinton and Obama administrations. His publications address problems in American public law,international affairs and international law,artificial intelligence,public health and safety law,and institutions and organizations. He serves on the State Department's Foreign Affairs Policy Board. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Social and Ethical Implications of Computing Research,he was elected to the President and Fellows of Harvard College in February 2019 and serves as chair of the board of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. He was born in Northern Mexico.
James M. Humes,commonly known as Jim Humes,is an American lawyer from San Francisco,California. On November 21,2012,governor Jerry Brown appointed Humes to the First District Court of Appeal,making Humes the first openly gay appellate judge in California history. He currently serves as presiding justice of the court's first division.
The Judiciary of California or the Judicial Branch of California is defined under the California Constitution as holding the judicial power of the state of California which is vested in the Supreme Court,the Courts of Appeal and the Superior Courts. The judiciary has a hierarchical structure with the California Supreme Court at the top,California Courts of Appeal as the primary appellate courts,and the California Superior Courts as the primary trial courts.
Leondra Reid Kruger is an American judge who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California. A native of South Pasadena,California,she graduated from Harvard College and Yale Law School. Kruger then clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens,and subsequently worked in private practice and as a professor. She served as acting Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States from 2010 to 2011,and worked in the Office of Legal Counsel. In 2014,California Governor Jerry Brown nominated Kruger to a seat on the Supreme Court of California. She was confirmed,and was sworn in on January 5,2015.
The 2022 California elections took place on November 8,2022. The statewide direct primary election was held on June 7,2022.
Gabriel Patrick Sanchez is an American lawyer who has served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit since 2022. He served as an associate judge of the California Court of Appeal,First Appellate District from 2018 to 2022.
Holly Aiyisha Thomas is an American attorney serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She previously served as a judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court from 2018 to 2022.
Patricia Guerrero is an American judge who is the 29th Chief Justice of California and served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from March 2022 through December 2022. Guerrero was previously an associate justice of the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District,Division One from 2017 to 2022,a judge on the San Diego County Superior Court from 2013 to 2017 and an assistant U.S. attorney in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California from 2002 to 2003. On August 10,2022,Guerrero was nominated to the position of Chief Justice of California by Governor Gavin Newsom. She is a Democrat.
Kelli Evans is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California. She previously served as a judge of the Alameda County Superior Court.
