The six remaining Supreme Court justices lauded their recently retired former colleague, Marin Jenkins, following the court’s oral arguments on Wednesday. (Video here; Merrill Balassone’s California Courts news release is here.)
In an often emotional ceremony, each of the six took turns praising Jenkins, not only for professional accomplishments, but also for his personal attributes. Typical were Justice Carol Corrigan’s comment that Jenkins “is one of the finest people I have ever known” and Justice Leondra Kruger recalling the “St. Martin stories” heard around the court’s conference table. Justice Joshua Groban said he suspected that Jenkins gave up his professional football career not because of a lack of talent, as Jenkins insists, but because he doesn’t like to hurt anyone; he’s “the Ferdinand the Bull of football,” Groban said.
Given the opportunity to respond, Jenkins said that the court “is indeed a special place to work” with “unparalleled” collegiality. He called retiring as “one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever made in my life.”
