CA: Key judicial choice awaits governor - `Timely' Action Vowed On High Court Opening

Mercury News ^ | June 9, 2005 | Howard Mintz

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With Janice Rogers Brown's long wait for confirmation to a federal judgeship over, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now has the opportunity to fill her conservative shoes on the California Supreme Court and help shape an institution that decides everything from Silicon Valley high-tech disputes to the fate of death row inmates.

The governor said Wednesday he would move in as "timely a manner as possible" to choose Brown's successor, the first turnover on the seven-member state Supreme Court since then-Gov. Gray Davis appointed Justice Carlos Moreno in 2001. But legal circles are already buzzing with possibilities, many of them focused on the governor's need to maintain the high court's diversity in light of the departure of its only African-American justice.

Based on a Mercury News review of Schwarzenegger's judicial appointments to date, he is lagging behind in selecting female and minority judges, a fact legal experts predict will add pressure to choosing a black person or a woman to fill Brown's post.

Of his 57 new judge appointments, the governor has picked 13 women, or 23 percent, compared to 35 percent of the hundreds of Davis judges.

In addition, the governor's staff said fewer than 2 percent of the new judges have been Latino or black, while 7 percent have been Asian-American.

"The numbers speak glaringly to the lack of women and minority appointments so far," said Chris Arriola, a San Jose prosecutor and chair of the judicial committee for La Raza Lawyers of California. "But I think the governor is sympathetic to us and we are optimistic he will make some appointments in the near future."

The governor has followed through with his pledge to take a bipartisan approach to selecting judges, with Democrats and independents making up about 40 percent of his picks.

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http://www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/13033556p-13879621c.html

Search for new judge begins
Governor faces a crucial decision in replacing Brown.

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Counting Brown, the state Supreme Court currently has three women and four men. Six justices are Republicans, and one is a Democrat. Two are of Asian descent. One is Latino.

A California Supreme Court without an African American wouldn't be without precedent - there was a five-year gap before Brown was appointed in 1996.

But it would be taken as a rebuff by minority constituencies that already are feeling slighted.

Demetrius Shelton, president of the California Association of Black Lawyers, said that group came away from an April meeting with Davies without learning why African Americans ranked highly by the State Bar didn't meet the governor's standards.

"We offered our assistance in identifying African American candidates," Shelton said. "We made ourselves available to John Davies in that regard, and he declined to take us up on that offer."

Arriola said only one candidate endorsed by La Raza - Ricciardulli - has been appointed during the current administration. He said La Raza would like to see the first Latina named to the Supreme Court but probably would support "a lot of great African American candidates as well."

Meanwhile, a spotlight will be fixed on California's highest court no matter who sits there. The court soon will rule on the validity of controls on coastal development, and a constitutional review of the state's marriage laws isn't far off.

Brown's successor could play an important role in the latter case and possibly the former - depending on when Brown takes the oath as a federal judge. Her office wasn't saying when that would be, and a brief statement issued late Wednesday by the administrative office of the state courts shed no light on how long she'll stick around.