Governor likely to name Latina to high court, sources say

Gov. Gavin Newsom will probably nominate a new Supreme Court Justice before the end of the year, and the leading candidates are Latina, according to sources speaking off the record.

The pick would fill the opening left when Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar resigned in October to become president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Cuéllar's departure left the seven-seat court with no Latino members in a plurality Latino state.

Two of the top candidates are 4th District Court of Appeal Justice Patricia Guerrero and U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, who has reportedly been lobbying for the position.

Justice Elena J. Duarte of the 3rd District Court of Appeal has also come up, though Newsom is reportedly also under pressure to name someone from Southern California. Four of the six justices on the court have worked primarily in Northern California.

The approximately half-dozen names on Newsom's shortlist reportedly include at least one Asian American. Newsom's administration planned to hold a meeting over the weekend to narrow down the choices, according to sources.

Many people quickly flagged the lack of Latinos on California's courts after Cuéllar announced his pending resignation in September. Speaking to the Daily Journal at the time, David A. Carrillo, executive director of UC Berkeley School of Law's California Constitution Center, suggested Duarte and Guerrero would be strong candidates. Carrillo declined to comment for this story.

"Latinas are 20% of California's population, and there has never been a Latina appointed to the California Supreme Court," said Sonja Diaz, founding director of the Latino Policy & Politics Initiative at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. "Yet there are other states, including the state of Texas, that do have a Latina on the Supreme Court."

Indeed, the high court in deep blue California trails some red state courts in Latino representation. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott appointed Justice Rebeca Aizpuru Huddle to the Texas Supreme Court last year. The seven-member Florida Supreme Court includes three Latino men.

The latest report from the Judicial Council, issued at the end of 2020, found 11.5% of superior court judges in California are Latino. On the courts of appeal, that number was 6.1%.

Diaz, Centro Legal de la Raza Board Vice Chair Sergio Garcia and others signed a September letter to Newsom "on behalf of the Ad Hoc Latino Leadership Group, a group of Latinx leaders across California that has come together to provide strategic input on executive-level appointments in state government." They struck a balance between praising Newsom while demanding more.

"Latino voters were instrumental in shaping the outcome of the recent recall election, and this youthful and growing electorate will continue to play a decisive role in California's political future," they wrote. "Yet, only 11% of judges in California are Latino. We appreciate your administration's continued engagement with our state's diverse Latino communities and commend your appointment of 12 excellent Latinas to the state's superior courts during your first term, who reflect 8.7% of your 138 appointments to this body."

Garcia said the Newsom administration began meeting with Latino groups and others even before he took office to speak about increasing diversity across his administration. He confirmed the letter to Newsom also included a list of 10 Latinas qualified to serve on the court, though neither he nor Diaz would confirm what names were on that list.

Newsom's judicial appointments secretary, Luis Céspedes, is Latino. Speaking at a May webinar hosted by the Latina Lawyers Bar Association and the California Latino Legislative Caucus, he said the state needed to "increase the diversity pool." Newsom launched a Judicial Mentor Program in June to "promote a diverse and inclusive judiciary" although state courts, such as in Los Angeles County, were at least a year ahead.

But Diaz and others argue the pool already exists.

"There has been a Latino appointed to a higher court under his administration," Diaz said. "But also, we would not be articulating this if there wasn't a strong bench of potential jurists that really are impeccably qualified."

Diaz pointed to other recent Newsom appointments: Martin J. Jenkins, who is black and the first openly gay California Supreme Court justice; Shirley Weber, California's first black Secretary of State; Alex Padilla, the state's first Latino U.S. Senator; and Attorney General Rob Bonta, who has Filipino heritage.

"This is his Sonia Sotomayor moment," Garcia said of Newsom "This would be a significant step forward to make sure the California Supreme Court is truly representative of California."