Chief justice optimistic about next budget

California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye addressed bail, court funding and operations, and her own plans -- sort of -- during a meet-and-greet with the press on Wednesday. For the first time, she hosted the annual event via Zoom.

As she noted at least once, Cantil-Sakauye is now 10 years into her 12-year term. She recently turned 61. She declined to say whether she planned to run in her retention election in 2022, though many expect her to stay on.

"All options are on the table," she said.

Cantil-Sakauye also said "not yet" when asked if anyone from the incoming Biden administration had contacted her in connection with any of her colleagues on the court. Justices Goodwin H. Lui and Leondra R. Kruger have been rumored to be under consideration for a job in Washington, especially Kruger, who many believe is a front runner for solicitor general.

If either moves on, Gov. Gavin Newsom would get another nominee for the seven-member court.

Cantil-Sakauye came to the meeting fresh from the first of the court's regular Wednesday morning conferences to feature Newsom's first choice, Justice Martin J. Jenkins. Newsom swore in Jenkins, the court's first openly gay justice, last week.

That conference was also virtual. Cantil-Sakauye said the other justices already know Jenkins, largely from his 11 years as a justice on the 1st District Court of Appeal. This has made the transition easier, she said, despite the justices working from home during the pandemic.

Cantil-Sakauye also said she's an optimist about the upcoming state budget. She said the branch has been in regular touch with the Newsom administration, which will reveal its preliminary 2021-22 state budget in January.

After taking the job near the height of the Great Recession, Cantil-Sakauye fought for years to reverse cuts to the court system. These efforts paid off last January, only to have the gains wiped out when the pandemic hit two months later.

"I'm actually not an optimist, but I am optimistic coming off the current year," said Martin Hoshino, administrative director of the Judicial Council. "January was wonderful. It was a turn-the-corner, full-sails-up kind of event for us. I'm still having a hard time watching the demolition that happened afterwards."

The chief justice also defended the courts, saying they did a better job staying open than many realize. While many attorneys have lamented delays in civil cases and the backlog of thousands of criminal matters in the state's largest counties, she said the courts have done a good job continuing to hear family law and dependency matters despite the difficulties posed by the shutdowns. She also said judges should not get the new vaccines ahead of health care workers and others "who need it most."

"The courts did a tremendous job staying open," she said. "'We did have a relatively smooth transition."

One next step is to create more standardization and parity among the courts in terms of their remote access technology. That has been lacking so far, Cantil-Sakauye said, because the Judicial Council has not wanted to stand in the way of any technological solution that allowed greater access in individual counties.

Several reporters asked about two topics raised by the recent election: bail and initiatives. Cantil-Sakauye has been critical of the cash bail system. In 2017, she convened a working group to study alternatives, such as risk assessment. Many pilot projects are underway around the state.

That work continues, despite voters soundly rejecting Proposition 25, which would have kept in place Senate Bill 10, a 2018 law phasing out cash bail in California.

This effectively ends that practice for a quarter of the state's population. Meanwhile, a case concerning the ability of defendants to pay bail is still pending before the court. In re Humphrey, S247278 (Cal. Sup. Ct., filed March 6, 2018).

Meanwhile, 2020 was a contentious year for court battles around initiative language. But Cantil-Sakauye said there is little courts can do about that issue until a particular case reaches them.

"I haven't seen clear language in an initiative, ever," she said. "Of course, I've only been on the bench for 10 years on the Supreme Court."