“California Chief Justice Ronald George leaves historic legacy”

In today’s Los Angeles Times, Maura Dolan has an excellent, extensive retrospective of Ronald George’s tenure as California’s Chief Justice. It starts with an interesting insider’s tidbit that I don’t remember hearing before — in what will likely be his most-remembered decision, In re Marriage Cases (2008) 43 Cal.4th 757, George “drafted an opinion . . . with two different endings. One gave same-sex couples the right to marry. The other didn’t. Then he asked the six associate justices for reaction. George soon learned that his colleagues were split 3 to 3. His vote would decide the most burning civil rights question of the day.”