Justices in the CA’s state appellate courts are on the ballot for the public to vote “yes” or “no” on whether each justice should retain their seat. Retention elections are nonpartisan and justices do not run against opposing candidates. If a justice receives more “yes” votes, the justice may remain in his or her position. If a justice receives more “no” votes, the justice will complete the current term and then a new justice will be appointed by the Governor.
California Supreme Court
Patricia Guerrero Associate Justice (once elected, will become the Chief Justice* of CA) | Official Bio Law School: Stanford Law School Appointed By: Gov. Gavin Newson (D) in Feb. 2022 Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Joshua Groban Associate Justice | Official Bio Law School: Harvard Law School Appointed By: Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in Nov. 2018 Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Martin J. Jenkins Associate Justice | Official Bio Law School: University of San Francisco School of Law Appointed By: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in Oct. 2020 Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Goodwin Liu Associate Justice | Official Bio Law School: Yale Law School Appointed By: Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2011 Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Additional Resources
You may wonder, “what does the Chief Justice do?”
- leads the administrative functions of the CA Judicial Branch, interfacing with the executive and legislative branches on behalf of the state judiciary;
- manages its $5 billion budget
- chairs the CA Judicial Council ( the administrative policy making body of state courts), as well as chair of the Commission on Judicial Appointments.
Chief Justice Cantil-Sukauye provided an explanation here.
California Court of Appeals (District 2)
California has a total of 101 appellate justices distributed among its six appellate districts and 19 sub-divisions, based on the jurisdiction where the trial case was heard. Only registered voters within an appellate district are asked to determine if the justices of that district will be retained. There are 32 Justices in the Second District distributed among eight divisions: Los Angeles (Divisions 1,2,3,4,5,7, and 8) and Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo (Division 6). Each Division is staffed by four justices, but cases are decided by randomly selected three Justice panels. The following twelve justices are seeking retention in District 2 of the CA Court of Appeals.
Frances Rothschild Presiding Justice (Division 1) | Official Bio Law School: UCLA Law School Appointed By: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005 (elevated to Presiding Justice of Division One by Gov. Jerry Brown in June 2014) Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Judith Ashmann-Gerst Associate Justice (Division 2) | Official Bio Law School: Whittier Law School Appointed By: Gov. Gray Davis in 2001 Party Affiliation (if known): Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Luis A. Lavin Associate Justice (Division 2) | Official Bio Law School: Harvard Law School Appointed By: Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr. in 2015 Party Affiliation (if known): Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Audrey Collins Associate Justice (Division 4) | Official Bio Law School: UCLA Law School Appointed By: Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2014 Party Affiliation (if known): Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Brian S. Currey Associate Justice (Division 4) | Official Bio Law School: University of Virginia Law School Appointed By: Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2018 Party Affiliation (if known): Democrat Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Lamar W. Baker Associate Justice (Division 5) | Official Bio Law School: Yale Law School Appointed By: Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2015 Party Affiliation (if known): Democrat Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Laurence Rubin Presiding Justice (Division 5) | Official Bio Law School: UCLA Law School Appointed By: Gov. Gray Davis (D) in 2001, then confirmed as Presiding Judge in Dec. 2018 by Gov. Jerry Brown. Party Affiliation (if known): Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Hernaldo Baltodano Associate Justice (Division 6) | Official Bio Law School: University of California, Berkeley Appointed By: Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) in 2022. Party Affiliation (if known): Democrat Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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John Segal Associate Justice (Division 7) | Official Bio Law School: University of Southern California School of Law Appointed By: Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2015 Ballotpedia Profile Party Affiliation (if known): Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Elizabeth A. Grimes Associate Justice (Division 8) | Official Bio Law School: Stanford Law School Appointed By: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in 2010. Party Affiliation (if known): Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Maria E. Stratton Presiding Justice (Division 8) | Official Bio Law School: University of California, Berkeley Appointed By: Gov. Edmund Brown, Jr. in 2018 and appointed as Presiding Justice by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2022. Ballotpedia Profile Party Affiliation (if known): Democrat Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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John Shepard Wiley, Jr. Associate Justice (Division 8) | Official Bio Law School: University of California, Berkeley Appointed By: Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in 2018 Party Affiliation (if known): Legal Background & Additional Considerations:
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Additional Resources:
- CA Nov. 8 General Election Official Voter Informational Guide | Court of Appeal – Second District
- What Appellate Justices Do (Judicial Council of California)
- Appellate Retention Election (Judicial Council of California)
- Justices of the 2nd District Court of Appeals (Judicial Council of California)
- About the 2nd District (Judicial Council of California)
- California Second District Court of Appeal (Ballotpedia)
You may wonder, “What does a Presiding Justice do?”
- The 2nd District Court of Appeal has eight divisions, each led by a Presiding Justice. The administrative presiding justice is responsible for leading the court, establishing policies, managing the use of judicial and other resources and generally promoting access to the courts as a forum for the resolution of disputes. See Rule 10.1004, Court of Appeal administrative presiding justice, 2022 California Rules of Court.