Supreme Court of California

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.

Political, gender, and ethnic diversity

Reflecting the state that it serves, the Court is very diverse. Two justices are female (Kennard and Werdegar). As for ethnic diversity, there are two Asian-American justices (Chin and Kennard) and one Hispanic justice (Moreno). The currently vacant seat on the court was previously held by a female African-American justice (Brown) who resigned to become a federal judge. One justice has a physical disability (Kennard).

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The Court currently has 5 Republicans and 1 Democrat, although the Republicans tend to be moderate. The currently vacant seat was previously held by a Republican -- the more conservative Janice Rogers Brown (whose views on certain issues, however, could not really be described as "conservative"), who had occasionally clashed with the more moderate Chief Justice George and others on the bench. This tendency had gotten her noticed by President George W. Bush, who nominated her to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. Democrats in the Senate had initially blocked her nomination, charging Brown was too conservative. Following a showdown over the filibustering of judicial nominees, a group of senators reached a compromise that resulted in Brown's confirmation to the Court of Appeals.

Related Topics:
Republicans - Democrat - Janice Rogers Brown - President - George W. Bush - United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit - Filibuster

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