Malcolm Maclachlan reports in today’s Daily Journal [subscription] that Governor Jerry Brown’s long delay in appointing a new Supreme Court justice (today is Day 504 since Justice Kathryn Werdegar announced that she would be retiring from the Supreme Court and it’s been almost 11 months since she left the court) could signal an impending controversial pick. (I’m quoted in the article.)
One theory about the delay — a theory we’ve mentioned before (here and here) — is the governor is waiting until after mid-August to name Justice Werdegar’s replacement so the new justice wouldn’t face the voters until 2022 instead of this November. A complementary theory is that Brown could name his wife and close advisor, Anne Gust Brown, or Josh Groban, his senior advisor on judicial appointments — if either of them is to be appointed, not only might the governor want to keep the unorthodox pick off this year’s ballot, but, with his governorship coming to an end, he also might want to keep the justice-to-be as an advisor for as long as possible.
