List of justices of the Supreme Court of California
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 | Governor McDougall |
| Solomon Heydenfeldt | January 20, 1852 | January 6, 1857 | Direct election |
| Alexander O. Anderson | April 6, 1852 | November 2, 1852 | Governor Bigler |
| Alexander Wells | January 3, 1853 | October 31, 1854 | Direct election |
| Charles Henry Bryan | November 24, 1854 | November 15, 1855 | Governor Bigler |
| David S. Terry* | November 15, 1855 | September 12, 1859 | Direct election |
| Peter Hardeman Burnett | January 13, 1857 | October 12, 1857 | Governor J. N. Johnson |
| Stephen Johnson Field* | October 13, 1857 | May 20, 1863 | Governor J. N. Johnson |
| Joseph G. Baldwin | October 2, 1858 | January 2, 1862 | Direct election |
| Warner Cope* | September 20, 1859 | January 2, 1864 | Governor Weller |
| Edward Norton | December 18, 1861 | January 2, 1864 | Direct election |
| Edwin B. Crocker | May 21, 1863 | January 2, 1864 | Governor 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 | Governor 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 | Governor Haight |
| Addison Niles | January 1, 1872 | January 5, 1880 | Direct election |
| Isaac S. Belcher | March 4, 1872 | January 5, 1874 | Governor 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 | Governor Bartlett |
| John D. Works | October 2, 1888 | January 5, 1891 | Governor Waterman |
| William H. Beatty* | November 6, 1888 | August 4, 1914 | Direct election |
| Charles N. Fox | June 25, 1889 | January 7, 1895 | Governor 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 | Governor Markham |
| William C. Van Fleet | May 7, 1894 | January 3, 1899 | Governor 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 | Governor Gage |
| M. C. Sloss | December 19, 1906 | March 1, 1919 | Governor Pardee |
| Henry A. Melvin | September 28, 1908 | December 1920 | Direct election |
| Matt Sullivan* | August 22, 1914 | January 4, 1915 | Governor H. Johnson |
| William P. Lawlor | January 3, 1915 | July 25, 1926 | Direct election |
| Curtis D. Wilbur* | January 1, 1918 | March 19, 1924 | Governor Stephens |
| Thomas J. Lennon | December 20, 1918 | August 14, 1926 | Direct election |
| Warren Olney Jr. | March 1, 1919 | July 1921 | Governor Stephens |
| William A. Sloane | May 15, 1920 | January 7, 1923 | Governor Stephens |
| Charles A. Shurtleff | July 2, 1921 | December 1922 | Governor Stephens |
| William H. Waste* | November 25, 1921 | June 6, 1940 | Governor 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 | Governor Richardson |
| John E. Richards | February 11, 1924 | December 1932 | Governor Richardson |
| John W. Shenk | April 14, 1924 | August 3, 1959 | Governor Richardson |
| Jesse W. Curtis Sr. | January 1, 1926 | January 1, 1945 | Governor Richardson |
| Frank G. Finlayson | October 4, 1926 | December 11, 1926 | Governor Richardson |
| Jeremiah F. Sullivan | November 22, 1926 | December 1926 | Governor 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 | Governor Rolph |
| Nathaniel P. Conrey | October 6, 1935 | November 2, 1936 | Governor Merriam |
| Douglas L. Edmonds | November 23, 1936 | December 31, 1955 | Governor Merriam |
| Frederick W. Houser | October 1, 1937 | October 12, 1942 | Governor Merriam |
| Jesse W. Carter | September 12, 1939 | March 15, 1959 | Governor Olson |
| Phil S. Gibson* | October 2, 1939 | August 30, 1964 | Governor Olson |
| Roger J. Traynor* | August 13, 1940 | January 31, 1970 | Governor Olson |
| B. Rey Schauer | December 18, 1942 | September 15, 1964 | Governor Olson |
| Homer R. Spence | January 2, 1945 | June 1, 1960 | Governor Warren |
| Marshall F. McComb | January 3, 1956 | May 3, 1977 | Governor Knight |
| Raymond E. Peters | March 25, 1959 | January 2, 1973 | Governor P. Brown |
| Thomas P. White | August 25, 1959 | October 31, 1962 | Governor P. Brown |
| Maurice T. Dooling Jr. | June 30, 1960 | June 30, 1962 | Governor P. Brown |
| Mathew Tobriner | July 2, 1962 | January 20, 1981 | Governor P. Brown |
| Paul Peek | December 2, 1962 | December 16, 1966 | Governor P. Brown |
| Stanley Mosk | September 1, 1964 | June 19, 2001 | Governor P. Brown |
| Louis H. Burke | November 20, 1964 | November 30, 1974 | Governor P. Brown |
| Raymond L. Sullivan | December 20, 1966 | January 19, 1977 | Governor P. Brown |
| Donald Wright* | April 17, 1970 | February 1, 1977 | Governor Reagan |
| William P. Clark Jr. | March 23, 1973 | March 24, 1981 | Governor Reagan |
| Frank K. Richardson | December 2, 1974 | December 2, 1983 | Governor Reagan |
| Wiley Manuel | March 24, 1977 | January 5, 1981 | Governor J. Brown |
| Rose Bird* | March 26, 1977 | January 5, 1987 | Governor J. Brown |
| Frank C. Newman | July 16, 1977 | December 13, 1982 | Governor J. Brown |
| Otto Kaus | July 21, 1981 | October 16, 1985 | Governor J. Brown |
| Allen Broussard | July 22, 1981 | August 31, 1991 | Governor J. Brown |
| Cruz Reynoso | February 11, 1982 | January 4, 1987 | Governor J. Brown |
| Joseph Grodin | December 27, 1982 | January 5, 1987 | Governor J. Brown |
| Malcolm M. Lucas* | April 6, 1984 | May 1, 1996 | Governor Deukmejian |
| Edward A. Panelli | December 24, 1985 | May 3, 1994 | Governor Deukmejian |
| John Arguelles | March 18, 1987 | March 1, 1989 | Governor Deukmejian |
| David Eagleson | March 18, 1987 | January 6, 1991 | Governor Deukmejian |
| Marcus Kaufman | March 18, 1987 | January 31, 1990 | Governor Deukmejian |
| Joyce L. Kennard | April 5, 1989 | April 5, 2014 | Governor Deukmejian |
| Armand Arabian | March 1, 1990 | March 1, 1996 | Governor Deukmejian |
| Marvin R. Baxter | January 7, 1991 | January 5, 2015 | Governor Deukmejian |
| Ronald M. George* | September 3, 1991 | January 3, 2011 | Governor Wilson |
| Kathryn Werdegar | May 3, 1994 | August 31, 2017 | Governor Wilson |
| Janice Rogers Brown | May 2, 1996 | June 30, 2005 | Governor Wilson |
| Ming Chin | March 1, 1996 | August 31, 2020 | Governor Wilson |
| Carlos R. Moreno | October 18, 2001 | February 28, 2011 | Governor Davis |
| Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar | January, 5, 2015 | October, 31, 2021 | Governor J. Brown |
| Carol Corrigan | January 4, 2006 | Present | Governor Schwarzenegger |
| Tani Cantil-Sakauye* | January 3, 2011 | Present | Governor Schwarzenegger |
| Goodwin Liu | September 1, 2011 | Present | Governor J. Brown |
| Leondra R. Kruger | January 5, 2015[9] | Present | Governor J. Brown |
| Joshua P. Groban | January 3, 2019[10] | Present | Governor J. Brown |
| Martin Jenkins | December 4, 2020[11] | Present | Governor Newsom |
| Patricia Guerrero | March 29, 2022[12] | Present | Governor 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. p. 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.
- ^ Archie, Ayana (March 29, 2022). "New California Supreme Court judge is the first Latina in the role". NPR. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
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.
- California's Legislature (PDF). Sacramento: California State Assembly. 2006. pp. 262–263.
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External links
- California Courts Past & Present Justices
- California Supreme Court Justices from the California Supreme Court Historical Society
- Supreme Court of California