Judicial Retention Elections | CA Supreme Court & District 2 of the Court of Appeals

• Ballotpedia Profile 
• Nominated by Gov. Gavin Newson to become the Chief Justice* of CA, replacing current Chief Justice Tani Gorre Cantil-Sukauye, who is retiring.
• If voters retain her in the Nov. 8th election, she would be the first Latina to serve as Chief Justice.
• Previously an associate justice at the Fourth District Court of Appeals, Division One (between Nov.  2017 – Mar. 2022), appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D).
• Previously a judge on the San Diego County Superior Court (June 2013 – 2017) & a supervising judge for the Family Law Division (2017).
• Formerly a corporate attorney (1997 – 2002; 2003 –  2013).
• Formerly a federal prosecutor (2002 – 2003).

Relevant Articles:
Greg Moran, Guerrero, taking reins of state Supreme Court, isn’t seen shifting from its consensus path, The San Diego Union-Tribune (Aug. 26, 2022).

• Ballotpedia Profile 
• Formerly Senior Advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on judicial appointments, legal policy, & legislative issues. In that capacity, he advised the governor on the appointment of over 600 judges, or roughly one out of every three judges in the state.
• Previously a corporate attorney.

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• The first openly gay justice on the CA Supreme Court.
• Previously Senior Judicial Appointments Advisor to Gov. Newsom.
• Previously a judge on the California Court of Appeals (First District), appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in Jan. 2008.
• Formerly a judge on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (federal trial court), appointed by President Bill Clinton (D) in 1997.
• Formerly a judge of the Superior Court of Alameda County, appointed by Gov. Pete Wilson (R) in 1992, and in 1995, became the Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Division. .
• Formerly a judge on the Oakland Municipal Court, appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian (R) in  1989.
• Previously a lawyer for a telephone company.
• Previously a prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.
• Former prosecutor.
• Briefly employed with the Seattle Seahawks NFL team.

Relevant Articles:
Julie Compton, California Supreme Court’s 1st gay justice left the NFL to pursue a law career, NBC News (June 1, 2021).
Out in the Bay, Gay Calif. Supreme Court justice values struggle, KALW.org (Feb. 4, 2022).

• Ballotpedia Profile 
• Was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (the federal-level appeals court) by President Obama, but Liu withdrew his candidacy when a GOP filibuster blocked congress from voting on whether to confirm the nomination.
• Previously a professor and Associate Dean at the University of California Berkeley School of Law and continues to teach constitutional law at Harvard Law School.
• Formerly a corporate attorney.
• Previously clerked for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg.
• Previously clerked for Judge David Tatel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
• Formerly Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, developing & coordinating K-12 education policy.
• Helped launch the Americorps national service program and previously worked as a senior program officer at the Corporation for National Service.
• Attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship.

Relevant Articles:

• Justice Goodwin Liu: “Implicit Bias, Structural Bias, and Implications for Law and Policy” (University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School).
• Goodwin Liu: The Honorable S. William Green Visiting Professor of Public Law at Harvard Law School (for a list of publications).
• Nina Totenberg, Controversial Obama Judicial Pick Falls To Filibuster, National Public Radio (May 19, 2011).
• Carl Hulse, G.O.P. Blocks Judicial Nominee in a Sign of Battles to Come, The New York Times (May 19, 2011).

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• Previously a Judge on the LA Municipal Court the LA Superior Court, beginning in 1975
• Formerly a corporate attorney
• Previously an attorney for the California State University and Colleges Offices of General Counsel

• Ballotpedia Profile
• Formerly a Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court, appointed by Gov. George Deukmejian (R) in 1986.

• Worked as a deputy probation officer while attending law school
• Former prosecutor
• Began her career in the state attorney general’s office in Los Angeles

• Ballotpedia Profile
• Previously a Judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County
• Previously General Counsel of at the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission
• Previously a trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice
• Previously an assistant attorney general for Massachusetts

Relevant Articles:
Kevin Singer, “Judge Luis A. Lavin Joins LA Dept. 82,” (Receivership News, 2012).

• Ballotpedia Profile
• Formerly a Judge of the United States District Court  for the Central District of California (the trial court for cases that arise under federal law. She was appointed by President Clinton in 1994 and served as Chief Judge from 2009 – Sept. 2012.
• Former prosecutor
• Formerly a deputy general counsel in the Office of the Special Advisor to the Los Angeles  Police Department Board of Commissioners.
• Previously president of the Association of Deputy District Attorneys in 1984.
• Lifetime member of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles (WLALA); California Women Lawyers, National Bar Association, Association of African American California Judicial Officers (AAACJO), Langston Bar Association, and Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles.

Relevant Articles:
Evan A. Jenness & Mary Carter Andrues, “Judicial Profile: Hon. Audrey B. Collins, Chief Judge U.S. District Court, Central District of California,” Fed. Bar.org
Nicholle Granger, “Granddaughter of a slave, Justice Audrey Collins to receive Beacon of Justice Award,” American University Alumni Profile (Feb. 9, 2017).
The Honorable Audrey Collins, The History Makers (Dec. 18, 2013).
Additional Considerations:

• Was an educator prior to her legal career

• Ballotpedia Profile
• Former corporate litigator
• Previously a Judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County
• Linkedin page

Relevant Articles:
Staci Zaretsky | “An Awesome Appellate Benchslap Calling Out Sexism In The Legal Profession” (Above the Law, Nov. 27, 2019)

• Ballotpedia Profile
• Previously Special Assistant to the President and Associate Counsel to the President at the White House
• Previously a Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice
• Formerly a federal prosecutor and represented the government in criminal cases where people appealed their conviction.

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• Previously a Judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles (2001) and Judge of the Santa Monica Municipal Court (1982-2001)
• Former corporate attorney

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• Previously a judge of the Superior Court of San Luis Obispo County, appointed by Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2017.
• Previously a corporate attorney & founder of a private law firm focusing on employment law
• Member of the California Latino/a Judges Association

Relevant Articles:
Appeal to voters written by Hernaldo Baltodano in the VC Reporter regarding the retention of appellate justices (Oct. 13, 2022)
Aug. 3, 2022 Confirmation Hearing of the Commission on Judicial Appointments: Judge Hernaldo J. Baltodano, CA Courts

• Ballotpedia Profile
• Previously a Judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County
• Former corporate attorney

• Ballotpedia Profile
• Previously a Judge of the Superior Court of Los Angeles, appointed by Gov. Pete Wison in 1997.
• Previously a corporate attorney

• Ballotpedia Profile
• Former public defender at the state and federal level
• Previously a corporate attorney
• Previously a Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court, appointed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in 2005.

Relevant Articles:
Commission on Judicial Appointments: Presiding Justice Maria E. Stratton, CA Courts

• Ballotpedia Profile
• Former federal prosecutor
• Previously a corporate attorney
• Previously a tenured professor at UCLA Law School
• Former Judge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court

Relevant Articles:
John S. Wiley Jr., “Reciprocal Altruism as a Felony: Antitrust and the Prisoner’s Dilemma”, 86 Mich. L. Rev. 1906 (1988). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol86/iss8/3.