A Daily Journal article (Chief George Anointed Successor – subs. required) reports today on the role that Chief Justice Ron George played in Governor Schwarzenegger’s appointment of Third District Court of Appeal Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye to take over George’s role as our high court’s Chief. It appears that George encouraged that choice after observing how effective Cantil-Sakauye was in working as a member of the Judicial Council. The article further quotes George as saying, “‘I got the impression he [Schwarzenegger] really wanted to make the appointment on merit and didn’t want to get involved in a lot of political maneuvering.'”
The article draws comparisons between the career paths of George and Cantil-Sakauye, and recounts George’s description of the Chief’s duties above and beyond those of an associate justice of the Supreme Court.
On a related topic, another article in today’s Daily Journal (Brown’s Legacy of Judicial Appointments Faces Scrutiny – subscr. required) has some interesting commentary on judicial appointments made by Governor Schwarzenegger’s predecessors.
