How Appellate Court Justices are Selected
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. The only promise they can make
voters is to decide appeals impartially and according to the law, without
fear or favor toward any individual or group. 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 their
profile at this website.
