Author: California Constitution Center

Events

29 Oct, 2022

Event announcement: a recall debate

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The Bar Association of San Francisco presents: Recall Elections in California Date Thursday, November 3, 2022 MCLE Registration 3:30 – 4:00 p.m. Virtual Program 4:00 – 5:30 p.m. MCLE 1 Hour in Legal Ethics Speakers Senator Joshua Newman, California Senate District 29 David A. Carrillo, Lecturer in Residence, UC Berkeley Law and Executive Director, California Constitution Center Larry Gerston, Professor, Public policy, Civic Engagement and State and U.S. Politics Jamarah Hayner, President, JKH Consulting Joshua Spivak, Senior Fellow at Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform Moderator: Yolanda Jackson, Executive Director and General Counsel, The Bar Association of San Francisco and...

Events

24 Oct, 2022

Event announcement: Yes on 1

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Register here for this free online event. Connecting the Dots What is at stake for religious freedomwhen abortion rights are under attack?Thursday, October 27, 12:00 p.m.-1:15 p.m.Register to receive the Zoom informationHow will Prop. 1 impact the national conversation around abortion rights? Join the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Bay Area and National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) California, to hear answers. Featuring Liz Reiner Platt, director of the Law, Rights, and Religion Project at Columbia Law School; David A. Carrillo, executive director of the California Constitution Center; and Smriti Krishnan, government relations and advocacy manager at NCJW. REGISTER...

Analysis

22 Oct, 2022

Ballot measure analysis: Proposition 26 and 27

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Overview This article provides a pro/con analysis of Proposition 26, “California Sports Wagering Regulation and Unlawful Gambling Enforcement Act,” and Proposition 27, “California Solutions to Homelessness and Mental Health Support Act,” on the November 2022 ballot. Both measures legalize sports gambling but take different forms. The main difference: Proposition 27 would allow online sports betting everywhere, while Proposition 26 would only allow gamblers to place bets in person at Native American tribal casinos and four horse racing tracks. Both propositions attempt to safeguard against underage gambling and prohibit gambling on youth sports, but only Proposition 26 makes it illegal to...

Analysis

13 Oct, 2022

November 2022 ballot measures described

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Overview In this article the California Constitution Center presents a pro/con analysis of each measure on the November 2022 ballot in California. This does not encourage a vote for or against any pending measure; it is instead intended only to fairly present the facts and arguments on both sides of the issues and to assist voters by objectively evaluating these measures for legitimate public informational purposes. The measures A complete list of the measures with links to the Ballotpedia descriptions: Proposition 1 Abortion Provides a state constitutional right to reproductive freedom, including a right to abortion. Proposition 26 Gambling Legalizes...

Analysis

24 Aug, 2022

How much experience do you need to be California’s chief justice?

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Overview Justice Patricia Guerrero likely will be confirmed as California’s 29th chief justice at the Commission on Judicial Appointments hearing on August 26, 2022, just five months after she was confirmed as an associate justice on March 22, 2022. That raises questions about how much judicial experience is necessary to lead California’s judicial branch. The answer is “not much” — reviewing the history of California chief justices shows that judicial branch leaders arrived with much, some, little, or no judicial experience. There is some evidence of correlation between two factors being predictive of success or failure (gauged by length of...

Opinion

23 Aug, 2022

Proposition 1 is good enough

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Overview In their SCOCAblog article “Fix the fatal flaw in SCA 10” Allison Macbeth and Elizabeth Bernal argued that California abortion rights, which rely on the same unwritten privacy interests the U.S. Supreme Court abrogated in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, are similarly vulnerable to judicial repeal. They suggested that an initiative measure could add specific, detailed reproductive liberty rights to California’s constitution. Absent that specificity, Macbeth and Bernal argued that a California version of Dobbs remained a risk. Macbeth and Bernal were right to argue for improvements to a law that will constitutionalize a woman’s right to choose...

Handicapping California’s next chief justice

Analysis

10 Aug, 2022

Handicapping California’s next chief justice

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Overview In this article we speculate about possible scenarios and candidates for California’s next chief justice. We have no inside knowledge and advocate for no one. Our historical analysis identifies three scenarios: most likely, less likely, and least likely. The most likely scenario is a sitting associate justice being elevated to chief justice, and in this scenario a Court of Appeal justice probably gets nominated to fill the empty seat. The less likely scenario is a Court of Appeal justice being nominated to both fill the empty seat and to serve as chief justice. The least likely scenario is a...

News

27 Jul, 2022

Hail and farewell, Madam Chief Justice

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California’s Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye will retire, she announced this morning in a media conference. Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye will not file for retention election, and will vacate her position when her term ends in January 2023, having served a full 12-year term as California’s highest judicial officer. Appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, she assumed office on January 3, 2011. She will be 63 when she leaves office, having served 32 years on the bench since Governor George Deukmejian first appointed her in 1990. Like her colleagues justices Carol Corrigan and Martin Jenkins, Cantil-Sakauye served at every level of California court...

The deadline for SCOCA justices to file for retention

Analysis

15 Jul, 2022

The deadline for SCOCA justices to file for retention

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Overview California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye assumed office on August 25, 2010, and secured retention in the November 2010 general election. Her current term ends on January 1, 2023. When asked at the recent SCOCA Conference 2022 whether she intended to seek another term, the Chief Justice said “I’m still thinking about it.” We confirmed how long the Chief Justice has to consider that question: the deadline for a SCOCA justice to file for retention in the November 2022 election is August 15, 2022. Analysis California appellate justices serve 12-year terms.[1] Before their terms expire on the Monday after the...

SCOCA Conference 2022 complete agenda

Events / News

3 Jun, 2022

SCOCA Conference 2022 complete agenda

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Friday June 10, 20229:00am to 4:15pmBroadcast live from the California Supreme Court conference center. Click here to register! Program outline 9:00 – 9:55 Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye keynote. A discussion on the pandemic’s effects on the judicial branch, the Judicial Council’s efforts to continue providing access to justice, and the successes and lessons of remote appearances that should continue to improve courthouse availability. We will discuss how the pandemic’s lessons about conducting government remotely can improve civic engagement and access to the governing process. 10:00 – 10:55 David Ettinger and David A. Carrillo will review the court’s major decisions in...

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SCOCAblog is a publication brought to you by the California Constitution Center at Berkeley Law and the UC Law Journal. Focused on substantive coverage of the Supreme Court of California, we analyze the court and its justices, cases and issues before the court, and news about California's judicial branch. Our contributors include former justices of the court, academics, and advocates experienced in appellate practice before the state high court.

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