SCOCAblog by the California Constitution Center and the Hastings Law Journal
Next Wednesday, February 18, La Raza is hosting a Q&A with newly-appointed California Supreme Court Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar. If you have any questions you’d like to submit, email them to SCOCAblog@hastingslawjournal.org — the moderator may have time to bring them up! The first immigrant Latino appointed to the highest court in California will make a special appearance at UC Hastings to speak about his journey and experiences as an attorney, professor, and now a Supreme Court justice. UC Hastings Professor Leo Martinez will lead the Q&A session. Date: February 18, 2014 Time: 3:30pm – 4:30pm Where: Alumni Reception Center (ARC),...
Today, the California Supreme Court is hearing arguments in California Charter Schools Association v. Los Angeles Unified School District. In this case the court will decide whether the Court of Appeal adopted an incorrect methodology for determining what facilities a school district must afford to a charter school under the Education Code. The case touches on statutory interpretation, a voter-enacted charter school law, and principles of fairness in an overcrowded and underfunded school district. Proposition 39 was enacted in 2009 as an initiative measure. It requires school districts to provide to charter schools “facilities sufficient for the charter school to...
We revisit a conversation of ancient vintage about the relative merits of judicial staff attorneys versus annual law clerks in the chambers of California Supreme Court justices. The staff attorneys are long-term professionals, while the annual law clerks are typically recent law school graduates who serve just a year or so (thus the name). This is distinct from the related debate about the role these attorneys play in the court’s decisionmaking process. That discussion is for another day – today we only compare staff attorneys and annual clerks. This conversation has been going on for many years – most recently...
The week of 26 Jan 2015: The court has no arguments scheduled this week. The upcoming argument session is next week, on Wed 04 Feb 2015 in Sacramento. Next week’s argument calendar: The court’s argument calendar for Wed 04 Feb 2015 in Sacramento. The following cases are placed upon the calendar of the Supreme Court for oral argument at its courtroom in the Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building, 914 Capitol Mall, Sacramento, California, on February 4, 2015. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2015 9:00 A.M. (1) S208611 California Charter Schools Association v. Los Angeles Unified School District et al. (2) S211596...
Are you a law professor, practicing attorney, or just an avid follower of the California Supreme Court? Contact us at scocablog@hastingslawjournal.org if you are interested in becoming a SCOCAblog contributor.
In 2015: We can expect some interesting new trends to develop at the court this year. As of this month, two new members have taken seats on the SCOCA bench: Justice Cuéllar, replacing Justice Kennard, and Justice Kruger, replacing Justice Baxter. Along with Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye and Justice Liu, who both joined the court in 2011 (replacing Chief Justice George and Justice Moreno, respectively), that makes four new or relatively-new members of the seven-member bench – a majority of the court has served less than four years. At the time he joined the court in August 2011, Justice Liu was...
California’s newest Supreme Court Justice, Leondra R. Kruger, served from 2007 to 2012 as an Assistant to the Solicitor General of the United States. Hired initially by Republican Solicitor General Paul Clement, Kruger served under six different confirmed or acting Solicitors General. When Neal Katyal was elevated to Acting Solicitor General in 2010 he appointed Kruger as his Acting Principal Deputy, the second-highest position in that office. Kruger’s appointment as Principal Deputy in 2010 capped an unusually fast rise, indicative of Kruger’s innate skills as well as her ability to command respect from peers and, indeed, experienced colleagues much older...
Yesterday, Leondra Kruger was confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments as the newest member of the California Supreme Court. Kruger will be sworn in on January 5. Stay tuned to learn more about the newest member of the Supreme Court.
Thank you for bearing with us as SCOCAblog ramps up. After the holidays, we will be getting you more frequent updates of what is happening at the Supreme Court of California, and bringing you analysis of pending and decided cases from our expert panel of contributors. If you’re interested in contributing, email us here. Also, stay tuned for a new added function at SCOCAblog: a live docket! The live docket will keep you updated on all of the cases on SCOCA’s docket.
Governor Jerry Brown announced today that he has nominated Leondra Kruger to the California Supreme Court. Kruger, who is currently a deputy assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice, will replace Justice Joyce Kennard who retired in April. Read more about Governor Brown’s new nominee here.
