The Daily Journal’s Craig Anderson has some early speculation about who will be Governor Gavin Newsom’s choice to replace Justice Martin Jenkins, who announced his retirement from the Supreme Court just four days ago. “The governor’s [presidential] aspirations . . . may affect the dynamics of Newsom’s selection process for Jenkins’ replacement or they may not, but it’s already being discussed as speculation rages about who[m] he might nominate,” Anderson writes.
Mentioned in the article are Court of Appeal Justices Gonzalo C. Martinez (Presiding Justice of the Second District, Division Seven), Jose S. Castillo (Fourth District, Division One), Tracie L. Brown (Presiding Justice of the First District, Division Four), and Lamar W. Baker (Second District, Division Five).
My own two cents is (are?) based on Newsom’s past Supreme Court appointees. All three were already current or former judges, so the next selection is also likely to have judicial experience, unlike most of then-Governor Jerry Brown’s picks. Two of the three — Justices Jenkins and Kelli Evans — previously worked for Newsom. The history thus gives a leg up to current judges who were previously part of the Newsom administration, which includes Justice Martinez and, additionally, Sixth District Justice Daniel H. Bromberg, who is not named in the article.
