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  <channel>
    <title>Category : Courts of Appeal </title>
    <link>https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/</link>
    <description></description>
    <language>en</language>
    
    <item>
  <title>Chief Justice, Judicial Council Honor Public Servants of California&#039;s Judicial Branch</title>
  <link>https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/publicservice-2026</link>
  <description>Chief Justice, Judicial Council Honor Public Servants of California&amp;#039;s Judicial BranchKaren.Datangel
Mon, 05/04/2026 - 11:22

      
              News Release
          
  
            Chief Justice of California Patricia Guerrero and the Judicial Council of California today mark their fourth annual celebration of Public Service Recognition Week.

Said Chief Justice Guerrero: &quot;As we mark the Judicial Council&#039;s one hundredth year, we honor those who built and who sustain this constitutional entity, and a judiciary that continues to evolve with the people it serves. As the third branch of government, our commitment remains firm to serve all Californians and uphold the rule of law as a cornerstone of our democracy. I am grateful to the more than 20,000 public servants across our state’s judicial branch who dedicate themselves to these principles every day.&quot;

Public Service Recognition Week is celebrated annually during the first week of May to honor the people who serve our nation as federal, state, county, local, and tribal government employees.

Videos produced by the Judicial Council highlight six of California&#039;s dedicated public servants, who speak about why they choose to serve in the judicial branch and with the council.


			JUDGE BUNMI AWONIYI

			Judge at the Sacramento Superior Court and council member:
			 

			
			
			
			JAYME LEE

			Associate analyst in the council’s Leadership Support Services office supporting various high-level projects:

			
			
		
			JAKE CHATTERS

			Court executive officer at the Placer Superior Court and chair of the council’s Data Analytics Advisory Committee:

			
			
			
			JAGAN SINGH

			Deputy director in the council&#039;s Facilities Services office, overseeing courthouse construction and modernization projects:

			
			
		
			JUDGE JUDITH DULCICH

			Judge at the Kern Superior Court and council member:
			 

			
			
			
			MARTHA WRIGHT

			Manager in the council&#039;s Criminal Justice Services office supporting collaborative justice courts, traffic fines and fees, and pretrial services:

			
			
		View all videos on YouTube, including the &quot;We Choose to Serve...&quot; montage.

About the Judicial Council of California

The Judicial Council is the policymaking body of the California courts, the largest court system in the nation. Under the leadership of the Chief Justice and in accordance with the California Constitution, the council is responsible for ensuring the consistent, independent, impartial, and accessible administration of justice.

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  <title>Third Appellate District Associate Justice Elena J. Duarte to Retire</title>
  <link>https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/third-appellate-district-associate-justice-elena-j-duarte-retire</link>
  <description>Third Appellate District Associate Justice Elena J. Duarte to Retirenatalie.l.ston…
Mon, 04/27/2026 - 11:45

      
              News Release
          
  
            California Court of Appeal Associate Justice Elena J. Duarte will retire from the Third District at the end of May after 15 years on the court and over 19 years of judicial service. “The decision to serve the public and be visible in the community for my entire career thus far has been the best decision I ever made,” said Duarte. “I look forward to the possibility of additional opportunities to serve the public in the future.”

A native Californian from San Jose, Duarte turns 60 later this year and was appointed to the Court of Appeal in December 2010 by Governor Schwarzenegger. She has been the only Latina on the single division Third District bench the entire time she has served. She is also its longest-serving Latinx justice. Upon her appointment in 2010, three women served simultaneously on the 11-member court for the first time in that court’s history. Duarte sat on the first all-female panel to hear oral argument at the Third District in April 2012, and a photograph of that historic event is displayed in the court’s Memorial Vestibule just before entering the courtroom.  

A three-time judicial appointee, Duarte was elevated to her position on the Court of Appeal after serving as a judge on the Sacramento Superior Court from 2008 to 2010. Before moving to Sacramento, she served as a judge on the Los Angeles Superior Court. At the time of her first judicial appointment, she was Chief of the Cyber and Intellectual Property Crimes Section at the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Her career as a federal litigator began upon her graduation from Stanford Law School in 1992, when she was accepted into the national Attorney General’s Honor Program and moved to Washington, D.C. as one of 12 honor graduates in the Criminal Division. She subsequently returned to California to prosecute federal cases in both Sacramento and Los Angeles.

Duarte will be honored in May as Sacramento County Bar Association’s Judge of the Year and with a lifetime achievement award by the Cruz Reynoso Bar Association, named for the first Latinx judge on the Third District who was then elevated to the California Supreme Court as its first Latinx associate justice.

Administrative Presiding Justice Laurie Earl wrote: “In addition to her tremendous contribution to the community, Justice Duarte is a wonderful colleague. She fully prepares for each case that is assigned to her, even those in which she is not the author. She treats litigants fairly and affords those who appear for oral argument the opportunity to be heard and the respect of preparation. She asks questions that go to the heart of the issues before us. She is a solid judge on our court, and her retirement will leave an enormous gap on our bench.”

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<item>
  <title>Commission to Consider Appointments to Courts of Appeal </title>
  <link>https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/commission-consider-appointments-courts-appeal-8</link>
  <description>Commission to Consider Appointments to Courts of Appeal natalie.l.ston…
Wed, 04/22/2026 - 09:24

      
              News Release
          
  
            The Commission on Judicial Appointments will hold in-person hearings in San Francisco on May 22 starting at 9:30 a.m. to consider five appointments by Gov. Gavin Newsom. 

The commission will consider the following appointments: 

9:30 a.m.: Judge Stephen Goorvitch, as associate justice of the Second Appellate District, Division Two (Los Angeles)
	10:30 a.m.: Justice Joanne Motoike, as presiding justice of the Fourth Appellate District, Division Three (Santa Ana) 
	11:30 a.m.: Judge Amy Guerra, as associate justice of the Fifth Appellate District (Fresno)
	12:30 p.m.: Judge Eran M. Bermudez, as associate justice of the Fourth Appellate District, Division One (San Diego) 
	1:30 p.m.: Judge Deborah C. Servino, as associate justice of the Fourth Appellate District, Division Three (Santa Ana)
The hearing webcast will be streamed live on the California Courts Newsroom.

The state Constitution specifies that a gubernatorial appointment to the Court of Appeal is effective when confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments. 

The commission members who will consider the appointments are California Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero (Chair); California Attorney General Rob Bonta; Presiding Justice Frances Rothschild (for the Second Appellate District, Division One, hearing)*; Presiding Justice Manuel Ramirez (for the Fourth Appellate District, Divisions One and Three, hearings); and Administrative Presiding Justice Brad R. Hill (for the Fifth Appellate District hearing). 

*Presiding Justice Frances Rothschild will appear virtually for the 9:30 a.m. hearing for Judge Stephen Goorvitch.

Appointee Biographies

Judge Stephen Goorvitch would fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Judith T. Ashmann-Gerst. He has served as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge since 2015. Before joining the bench, he served as an assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California, from 2007 to 2015. He was counsel at O’Melveny and Myers from 2003 to 2007. He served as a law clerk in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California from 2001 to 2003. He served as a staff attorney in the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from 1998 to 2001. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. 

Justice Joanne Motoike would fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Presiding Justice Kathleen E. O’Leary. She has served as an associate justice in the Fourth Appellate District, Division Three, since 2022. She served as an Orange County Superior Court judge from 2013 to 2022. Before joining the bench, she was a senior deputy public defender in Orange County from 2008 to 2013. She also worked as a trial attorney at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal from 2006 to 2008. She received her Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School. 

Judge Amy Guerra would fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Bruce Smith. She has served as a judge in the Fresno County Superior Court since 2018. Before joining the bench, she worked as the chief defense attorney at the Fresno County Alternate Defense Office from 2014 to 2018 and as an associate with the office from 2007 to 2014. She received her Juris Doctor from the San Joaquin College of Law. 

Judge Eran M. Bermudez would fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Richard D. Huffman. She has served as a judge in the Imperial County Superior Court since 2018. Before joining the bench, she worked as a compliance resolution officer at the University of California, San Diego, from 2016 to 2018 and in private practice from 2005 to 2016. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. 

Judge Deborah C. Servino would fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Thomas M. Goethals. She has served as a judge in the Orange County Superior Court since 2009. Before joining the bench, she served as a deputy attorney general at the California Attorney General’s Office from 1997 to 2009. Previously, she worked in private practice and as a law clerk at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1995 to 1997. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.  

Testimony and Comment

Requests to testify or written comments on the appointment must be received by the commission no later than 5 p.m. on May 15 (five court days prior to hearing). Anyone wishing to testify before the commission must state that request in writing and include a summary of the facts on which any testimony or opinion will be based.  

Submissions via email to coja@jud.ca.gov are strongly encouraged. Hard copies are not required.  

If you would like to mail your request, you may also reach the commission at:  

Commission on Judicial Appointments  
c/o Chief Justice of California  
Supreme Court of California  
350 McAllister Street  
San Francisco, California 94102  
Attention: Secretary to the Commission  

Guidelines for the Commission on Judicial Appointments are published in the appendix to the California Rules of Court and are posted on the California Courts website.



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  <title>Fourth Appellate District Announces Destruction of Old Court Records</title>
  <link>https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/fourth-appellate-district-announces-destruction-old-court-records-20</link>
  <description>Fourth Appellate District Announces Destruction of Old Court RecordsMartin.Novitski
Wed, 04/08/2026 - 09:00

      
              News Release
          
  
            Riverside—The Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two, has announced its intention to destroy original proceedings pursuant to Rule 10.1028(d)(1) of the California Rules of Court.

All original proceedings (excluding those with published opinions) are preserved for a period longer than 10 years. The records transfer lists of the cases and files relating to this destruction of old court records are available on the court’s website:

List

Anyone who knows of a reason why any of the records listed should be retained, whether for historical or other reasons, should notify AnnDee Smith, Assistant Clerk/Executive Officer. The reasons for retention should be sent in writing by May 8th, 2026 to:

                    AnnDee Smith, Assistant Clerk/Executive Officer
                    Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two
                    3389 12th Street
                    Riverside, CA  92501

Please note that records and case files for actions that result in a published opinion will be retained permanently by the California State Archives, 1020 “O” Street, Sacramento, CA  95814. The Reference Desk can be contacted at (916) 653-2246. Their website is www.sos.ca.gov/archives.

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<item>
  <title>Third Appellate District Announces Destruction of Old Court Records</title>
  <link>https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/third-appellate-district-announces-destruction-old-court-records-0</link>
  <description>Third Appellate District Announces Destruction of Old Court Recordsnatalie.l.ston…
Mon, 04/06/2026 - 15:43

      
              News Release
          
  
            SACRAMENTO – The Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, announces its intention to destroy the following records in accordance with the California Rules of Court, rule 10.1028(c):

Civil cases with case numbers C054608 through C073746.

If anyone knows of a reason why a particular case, among the above numbered cases, should be retained, notify Todd C. Eyster, Assistant Clerk/Executive Officer, in writing setting forth in detail the reason(s) for retention. All requests must be received by May 6 and may be sent to 3DC-Comments@jud.ca.gov, or mailed to:

Todd C. Eyster
Assistant Clerk/Executive Officer
Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District
914 Capitol Mall
Sacramento, CA 95814

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  <title>Justice Kelli Evans and Justice Stacy Boulware Eurie Share Perspectives on Diversity in the Courts</title>
  <link>https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/justice-kelli-evans-and-justice-stacy-boulware-eurie-share-perspectives-diversity-courts</link>
  <description>Justice Kelli Evans and Justice Stacy Boulware Eurie Share Perspectives on Diversity in the CourtsKaren.Datangel
Wed, 03/25/2026 - 14:58

      
              Feature
          
  
            Justice Kelli Evans and Justice Stacy Boulware Eurie began their journeys in law as students at UC Davis at similar times, but neither expected their rise to the bench in California&#039;s appellate courts, as they first recounted in a conversation with each other during the Black History Month 2026 Closing Ceremony at the Judicial Council on Feb. 25.

&quot;As an attorney, I hoped and thought that one day I would eventually like to become a judge, so when I got appointed to the Alameda County court trial bench, I thought I had made it...and I would have happily retired there,&quot; said Justice Evans, associate justice of the California Supreme Court. &quot;It was a surprise when I got the call from the governor saying he wanted to elevate me to the California Supreme Court.&quot;

&quot;While in law school, I dreamt of being a trial judge and when I was appointed in 2007 [to the Sacramento Superior Court], it was literally a dream come true,&quot; said Justice Stacy Boulware Eurie, associate justice of the Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District. &quot;There&#039;s no way I could have anticipated or predicted the current seat I hold.&quot;

The two justices shared the stage to discuss insights on diversity and inclusion in the courts, access to justice, the roles of judicial officers and court staff, and other topics. Following are highlights from their conversation.

On the role of jurists in honoring diversity and inclusion

Justice Evans: When I think about inclusion in particular, I think what it means is making sure people feel seen and are seen, feel heard and are heard, have a shot at opportunities, and in the court system, that they feel like it really works for them. Individual judges can do things in their courtrooms that embody these values. From the bench, you can treat all litigants with respect, make sure that you&#039;re implementing procedural justice in your courtroom. You can make sure you&#039;re using inclusive and accessible language. You can make sure you&#039;re explaining your decisions clearly, particularly to the person on the losing side of the decision. You can do things at a leadership level, like advocate for policies that help promote diversity and inclusion.

Another thing judges and individuals can do is community outreach and engagement. The more that our communities understand about the justice business, the better it is for our court system and the more likely we are to have diverse and inclusive court systems. If we help everyone to understand they have a stake in it, they have an opportunity to participate in a system that can and should work for everyone.

Justice Boulware Eurie: We&#039;re all familiar with systemic opportunities and/or barriers for diversity and inclusion, but I also think there&#039;s an individual level of opportunity and obligation to see who&#039;s at that proverbial table. No entity or structure is perfect but I do think our branch in particular is a mirror to society. The folks that come in through courthouse doors, those folks who support the work of the trial courts, Courts of Appeal, and the Supreme Court reflect and should reflect California&#039;s citizenry.

On the importance of diversity of perspectives and experiences in courts

Justice Evans: In the California Supreme Court, we have seven justices who are responsible for making decisions that impact all 40 million of us in California. When you have people at that table who have diverse experiences like people who have been defense attorneys, have represented civil rights litigants, worked with law enforcement their whole lives, been subjects of racial profiling, have family members who have been incarcerated, or have been career prosecutors, that&#039;s a very rich discussion and it brings voices to the table that have long been missing. When I talk about diversity, I&#039;m not just talking about race, gender, or sexual orientation - I&#039;m talking about life experience, geography, practice areas, income, all sorts of things. I think it&#039;s important in the trial courts if not more important at the appellate court levels.

The more people with nuanced perspectives who are part of a conversation, we&#039;ll have fewer blind spot errors, and we&#039;ll have a better understanding of potential impacts on various communities.

Justice Boulware Eurie: When we talk about an impartial court and fair and balanced justice, I think some of that comes from diversity of thought, not just traditional values or experiences. Are there voices that are ensuring a check on the system and as drivers of procedural justice, that it&#039;s not just one voice being heard? Is there space for different perspectives and values on how the law is interpreted?

I think it looks different in a Court of Appeal or Supreme Court because it&#039;s not a single individual judge making all the decisions in a courtroom. In the trial court, those different [perspectives can come from] roles of the prosecutor or public defender, or parents&#039; counsel, minor&#039;s counsel, and county counsel. I&#039;m pretty proud of California&#039;s courts because I think our branch is embracing the opportunities we&#039;re talking about.

I thought about language and diversity of perspectives. In juvenile court, when we&#039;re dealing with children who are removed from their homes - particularly Black families and communities - we may hear &quot;Hey, that&#039;s my cousin.&quot; You might later figure out &quot;That&#039;s my play cousin&quot; and having a bench officer who understands community relationships and ties that exist beyond blood helps to inform the decision-making in about what&#039;s in the best interest of the child. This is just one example of a type of diversity of experience and the opportunity for more informed decision making when you are hearing from and learning about different experiences.

On court staff

Justice Evans: Our clerks are procedural guardians. Our research attorneys carry an enormously important load as first line filters for the judges and justices for what&#039;s coming in and they often go through incredibly voluminous records. There are other court staff like interpreters, reporters, and self-help attorneys. There are court administrators who are doing work that make our courts accessible to the public. Our librarians are facilitating all of our access to material that we need to do our jobs. We&#039;ve got court security personnel that are protecting our litigants and jurors.

Sometimes this work is done under immense time pressure and public scrutiny. We&#039;re in a system full of unsung heroes. People know about judges, but people also need to know about the essential roles in our justice system that make it possible to seek and obtain justice.

I also know that the more people learn about these roles - young people in particular - the more they&#039;re interested in our work. Young people may not be interested in becoming a lawyer or a judge, but would be really interested in one of these other roles. So the more we can share that information, the better.

Justice Boulware Eurie: The one role I want to highlight is IT (Information Technology). In the Sacramento Superior Court in the period during COVID, we were spreading jurors out in different courtrooms and utilizing Zoom for them to hear and participate in selection. We had one particular IT member who was running from courtroom to courtroom, standing in the back -- not just to make sure the Zoom and speakers were working, but to make sure we could all be heard clearly. He was trying to stand in the shoes of the user, hearing what was happening in that courtroom or a different courtroom so there was meaningful participation. We know remote access is something the branch is very committed to and is super important.

Advice for law students and aspiring lawyers

Justice Boulware Eurie: Keep an open mind. I think a lot of people attend law school and go in with this vision of what it is that they want to do and just like undergrad, it&#039;s an opportunity for exploration. There will be an opportunity to learn so many substantive areas that you may not have been familiar with. As it relates to this conversation [around diversity and inclusion], I think of the growing importance of environmental law and looking at the demographics of law schools and who participates in those programs -- often I don&#039;t see people of color.

Look not only where you can participate, but who can you bring along? What other spaces, clinicals, programs, and internships might you and your peers participate in? Is it always the same folks raising their hands? Is there a way you can nudge a colleague or peer to join you in a lunchtime conversation with a professor on a topic that you might otherwise think is dry as sand? Challenge yourself by learning something new in terms of perspective, life background, and the law.

Justice Evans: Do what interests you. It might not be what everyone else is doing. Find people that you think are doing things that are interesting and exciting, and reach out to them and learn more. Try lots of different things and stay flexible. There&#039;s lot of different ways to be happy in any career but especially as a lawyer.

Watch Justice Evans and Justice Boulware Eurie&#039;s full conversation.



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  <title>In Memoriam: Associate Justice Howard B. Wiener</title>
  <link>https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/memoriam-associate-justice-howard-b-wiener</link>
  <description>In Memoriam: Associate Justice Howard B. WienerMartin.Novitski
Tue, 03/24/2026 - 12:54

      
              News Release
          
  
            Former Associate Justice Howard B. Wiener of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One, passed away on March 20, 2026.  Justice Wiener was born in Providence, Rhode Island on February 1, 1931, attending public schools there. He graduated from Brown University in 1952 with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy.  Three years later, he obtained his law degree from Harvard University Law School.

Following graduation from law school, Justice Wiener and his wife Joan moved to California, where he served as a law clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Harrison in Los Angeles from 1955 to 1956.  He was admitted to the California Bar in January 1956. During the next 20 years, he practiced law in a small firm in West Covina, handling all types of cases.  He was also active in the legal community, serving as President of the Pomona Valley Bar Association in 1968, on the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles County Bar Association from 1969 to 1971, and on the State Bar Board of Governors from 1972 to 1975 (Vice President, 1974-1975).

On July 25, 1975, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. appointed him to the San Bernardino County Superior Court.  Roughly three years later in May 1978, the Governor selected him to be an Associate Justice on Division One of the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District in San Diego.  Over the next 15 years, Justice Wiener became known for clear and thoughtful opinions that adapted and applied legal principles to compassionately serve the interests of people from all walks of life.

Despite practicing law in Los Angeles and the Inland Empire, Justice Wiener quickly became active in the San Diego legal community, serving as President of the William B. Enright American Inn of Court from 1991 to 1993 and later as one of its four distinguished emeritus members.  In 2018 he was honored by all five San Diego Inn of Court chapters with the second-ever lifetime achievement award.  A vocal advocate for education at every level and a mentor for many younger lawyers, Justice Wiener was an adjunct professor at the University of San Diego (USD) School of Law (1979-1986) and California Western School of Law (1986-1994), teaching professional responsibility and appellate advocacy respectively.  He also served as Chair of the Board of Visitors at USD Law School.  In 1982 he obtained a Master of Laws Degree in judicial process from the University of Virginia Law School.

Justice Wiener retired from the Court on December 31, 1993.  Beginning in 1994, he was actively engaged in private dispute resolution, serving in more than 1,700 cases as a mediator, arbitrator and private judge.  He is co-author with Jon B. Eisenberg and Ellis J. Horvitz of the California Civil Practice Guide, Civil Appeals and Writs, published by The Rutter Group.  In 2007, he was interviewed for the California Appellate Courts Legacy Project.  The interview is available at California Appellate Court Legacy Project | District Courts of Appeal.

Justice Wiener was preceded by his wife Joan, and is survived by his son Daniel, daughters Anne and Carrie, five grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

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  <title>Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District to Hear Oral Argument at Sutter County Superior Courthouse</title>
  <link>https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/court-appeal-third-appellate-district-hear-oral-argument-sutter-county-superior-courthouse</link>
  <description>Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District to Hear Oral Argument at Sutter County Superior Courthousenatalie.l.ston…
Thu, 03/12/2026 - 10:42

      
              News Release
          
  
            Yuba City – Administrative Presiding Justice Laurie M. Earl announced the Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, will hear oral argument at Sutter County Superior Courthouse on March 25 beginning at 10 a.m. More than 100 students from surrounding schools are expected to attend, and interested members of the public, attorneys, and judges are also welcome. Doors will open at 9 a.m.

Since 2000, the Third Appellate District has held oral argument sessions in 31 high schools and two law schools in 20 counties. The Third Appellate District has received statewide recognition for its outreach program, which helps students and members of the public understand how appellate courts work. As part of the outreach program, justices of the Third Appellate District will discuss their career paths and hold a question-and-answer session after oral argument. The justices are not permitted to answer questions about the case. 

Attendees are required to go through a security screening, so it’s recommended to arrive early. The following two cases will be heard:  

Calendar

10 – 10:30 a.m.: Women’s Health Specialists v. C.H., case number C102979.  Appeal from a workplace violence restraining order, preventing appellant, a frequent protestor at a women’s health clinic, from harassing an employee or from coming within 100 yards of the employee, their car, their workplace – the clinic – for three years.
	10:35 a.m. – 11:05 a.m.: People v. Vasquez, case number C102449.  Appeal from a judgment of conviction and sentence to six years plus life without the possibility of parole after the jury found defendant guilty of willful, deliberate, and premeditated murder and custodial possession of a weapon and also found true the special circumstance allegation that defendant intentionally lay in wait.
	11:10 a.m. – 11:40 a.m.: Question-and-answer session with the justices.
If you are a reporter and would like to photograph or record the session, please submit a Media Request Form and an Order on Media Request to Colette Bruggman at 3DCefiling@jud.ca.gov.

The Third Appellate District usually holds oral argument in its courtroom at 914 Capitol Mall, Sacramento. The Third Appellate District is made up of 23 counties: Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, El Dorado, Glenn, Lassen, Modoc, Mono, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo and Yuba. 

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  <title>California Judicial Center Library Exhibition Honors Impactful Women in State’s Legal History</title>
  <link>https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/california-judicial-center-library-exhibition-honors-impactful-women-states-legal-history</link>
  <description>California Judicial Center Library Exhibition Honors Impactful Women in State’s Legal HistoryKaren.Datangel
Mon, 03/02/2026 - 15:43

      
              Feature
          
  
            The California Judicial Center Library’s latest exhibition is a celebration of California women in law, including trailblazing judicial officers at all court levels. Resolute and Resilient: Celebrating 175 Years of California Women and the Law features illustrated panels and primary source materials such as photographs and artifacts celebrating California women’s contributions to the law and honoring the state’s pioneering women attorneys, judges, and justices.




 

 

The timeline of the exhibition begins in 1848 as Mexico ceded 55% of its territory to the United States. The Gold Rush in California began earlier that year and disproportionately affected Native American and Mexican women. Some of these women were the first to impact state law as litigants and activists, such as Mexican American novelist María Ruiz de Burton, who fought to defend her land holdings in Baja California and San Diego County in Mexican and U.S. courts for more than two decades. In the 1850s and 1860s, women like Mary Ellen Pleasant became known for their abolitionism and started an early civil rights movement.

The exhibition then focuses on the women’s suffrage movement in California, led by Clara Shortridge Foltz and Laura de Force Gordon, who also became the state’s first women lawyers. Georgia Bullock and Annette Abbott Adams became the first women judges in the state. Many other “firsts” amongst women attorneys are also featured in the exhibition, such as Abby Abinanti, who was the first Native American woman to practice law in California and currently serves as Chief Judge of the Yurok Tribal Court.




 

 

Women of the state judiciary in the 1960s and 1970s broke both gender and race barriers, including Presiding Justice Vaino Spencer as the first African-American woman judge; Judge Frances Muñoz as the first Latina judge; and Chief Justice Rose Bird as the first woman to serve full-time on the California Supreme Court. Since Chief Justice Bird’s historic tenure, eight other women have served on the state’s highest court, including four that serve today: Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, Justice Carol Corrigan, Justice Leondra Kruger, and Justice Kelli Evans.

The exhibition is on display now till the end of March 2026 in the Archives Room on the first floor of the Ronald M. George State Office Complex in San Francisco. An accompanying digital exhibition booklet is also available.

This article was originally published on March 14, 2025 and has been updated.

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  <title>In Memoriam: Justice Daniel J. Kremer</title>
  <link>https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/news/memoriam-justice-daniel-j-kremer</link>
  <description>In Memoriam: Justice Daniel J. KremerMartin.Novitski
Fri, 02/20/2026 - 14:18

      
              News Release
          
  
            Retired Administrative Presiding Justice of the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Daniel Kremer passed on February 17, 2026.  Presiding Justice Kremer is a 1960 graduate of Stanford University with a degree in political science and a 1963 graduate of Stanford Law School.

He was admitted to the California bar and to practice before the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in January 1964. He became a member of the bar of the United States Supreme Court in 1969.

From 1964 to 1972 he was a deputy attorney general in the Sacramento office of the California Attorney General where he represented the State of California in criminal trials and appeals including death penalty cases before the California Supreme Court. In 1972 he was named head of the Attorney General’s San Diego office criminal division and in 1983 became Chief Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Attorney General’s criminal division statewide.

In 1983 Governor Deukmejian appointed him to the San Diego County Superior Court. There he served in the court’s civil, criminal, law and motion and juvenile departments. In July 1985, Governor Deukmejian elevated him to the Court of Appeal as presiding justice. The voters of the State of California elected him to a full term in 1986 and reelected him to a second full term in 1998.  Presiding Justice Kremer retired in 2003 and was succeeded by Presiding Justice Judith McConnell.  Following his retirement, Presiding Justice participated in the Legacy Project, the video of which can be viewed here.

Presiding Justice Kremer chaired the Judicial Council’s Committee on Criminal Trial Delay Reduction and the Council’s Library Technology Committee. He was later named a member of the California Judicial Council, the policy making body for California’s courts. While a Council member, he chaired the Judicial Council’s Rules and Forms Committee and was co-chair of California’s first Court Technology Committee. Justice Kremer chaired the Task Force on Court Facilities, a body created by the Legislature and charged with evaluating every courthouse in California and recommending steps necessary to bring deficient sites up to acceptable standards. In 2002, Justice Kremer received the Judicial Council&#039;s Jurist of the Year award. 

Presiding Justice Kremer is preceded by his wife Kathryn of 56 years and survived by his sons Aaron and Brendan.

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