SACRAMENTO – Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today released annual applicant and appointee data for the administration’s judicial appointments.
From 2011 through 2015, there were 1,817 applicants for judicial appointments and Governor Brown appointed 311 judges, including 74 in 2015. Approximately 35% of the applicant pool and 39% of Governor Brown’s appointees identified themselves as American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African-American; Hispanic; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; or Other/Unknown.
From 2011 through 2015, Governor Brown’s judicial appointees included a number of notable firsts:
– Sonia Cortés, the first Latino judge ever appointed to the Yolo County Superior Court.
– Marsha G. Slough, the first openly gay justice in the history of the Fourth District Court of Appeal.
– Luis A. Lavin, the first openly gay justice to serve on the Second District Court of Appeal.
– Therese M. Stewart, the first openly lesbian justice to serve on the California Court of Appeal;
– Ferdinand P. Inumerable, the first Asian-American judge ever appointed to the Ventura County Superior Court.
– M. Bruce Smith, the first African-American judge to serve on the Fifth District Court of Appeal.
– Paul Lo, the first Hmong American judge ever appointed in the country;
– Sunshine Sykes, the first Native American judge ever appointed to the Riverside County Superior Court;
– Sunil Kulkarni, the first South Asian American judge ever appointed in Northern California;
– Rupa Goswami, the first South Asian American woman judge ever appointed in California.
– Halim Dhanidina, the first American-Muslim judge ever appointed in California;
– Jim Humes, the first openly gay justice ever appointed to the California Court of Appeal;
– Miguel Marquez, the first Latino justice ever appointed to the Sixth District Court of Appeal;
– Rosendo Peña, the first Latino justice ever appointed to the Fifth District Court of Appeal;
– Chris Doehle, the first female judge ever appointed to the Del Norte County Superior Court;
– Kimberly Colwell, the first openly lesbian judge ever appointed to the Alameda County Superior Court;
– Mark Andrew Talamantes, the first Latino judge ever appointed to the Marin County Superior Court;
– Kathleen O’Leary, the first female presiding justice ever appointed to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three; and
– Raquel Marquez, the first Latina judge ever appointed to the Riverside County Superior Court.
Under SB 56 and SB 182, the Governor is required to disclose aggregate statewide demographic data provided by all judicial applicants by March 1.
**NOTE: Judge and Justice demographic data collected by the Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts. State Bar membership data collected by the California State Bar.