How Appellate Court Justices are Selected

By Rod Davis

The office of appellate court justice is nonpartisan. To be eligible to serve, a person must have practiced law for at least 10 years.

Before a person can become an appellate court justice, the Governor must submit that person's name to the California State Bar's Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation, which is comprised of public members and lawyers who reflect the ethnic, sexual and racial diversity of the population, and must include persons of a variety of backgrounds, abilities, interests, and opinions. With community input, the Commission conducts a thorough review of the candidate's background and qualifications, and forwards an evaluation to the Governor.

The evaluation assesses the candidate's character, reputation, common sense, knowledge, legal skills, professional experience, objectivity, ethics, ability to make difficult decisions, work ethic, temperament, and integrity.

After receiving the Commission's evaluation and concluding the person is qualified for appointment, the Governor may nominate the person to become an appellate court justice. The nominee's qualifications are then reviewed by the Chief Justice of California, the Attorney General of California, and a senior presiding justice of the California Court of Appeal. Sitting as the Commission on Judicial Appointments, they conduct a public hearing. The public is invited to comment and speak at the hearing in support of or in opposition to the appointment. Letters received by the Commission in support of or in opposition to the appointment are received and considered by the Commission and are acknowledged publicly at the hearing. If the Commission finds the nominee is qualified to serve, it confirms the nomination. Following confirmation, the person takes the oath of office and becomes an appellate court justice. An appellate justice confirmed by the Commission must then be confirmed by voters at the next general election.

Every four years, more than a third of California's appellate court justices face California voters for retention. No one may run against the justices. Voters simply decide yes or no. If a majority of voters casts a "yes" vote for a particular justice, that justice remains for another term. The Code of Judicial Ethics requires all justices "to be faithful to the law regardless of partisan interests, public clamor or fear of criticism . . . ." The retention election system, adopted by California voters as part of the state Constitution, is designed specifically to foster judicial independence from improper external pressures.

Because appellate court justices serve in districts, voters in each district alone decide whether to retain them. California's court of appeal justices are divided among six districts, located in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Diego, Fresno, and San Jose. There are 11 appellate court justices in the Third Appellate District (Sacramento), which is comprised of the 23 counties located in the northeastern part of the state.

Appellate court justices generally do not actively campaign for retention. However, they do seek to provide helpful information to voters. The justices have worked closely and actively with the Secretary of State to help the public learn more about the appellate courts, who the appellate court justices are, and what they do. As a consequence, voters everywhere in California can easily obtain biographical information on every justice who appears on the ballot by going to the Secretary of State's Internet website. Voters can also read biographical profiles of each appellate court justice by going to the official Judicial Branch Internet website, "California Courts: The Judicial Branch of California," at http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov which is maintained by the Administrative Office of the Courts.