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Joyce Kennard, Trail-Blazing California Supreme Court Justice, Dead at 85

Sep 21, 2026

(Subscription required) Joyce Kennard, a judicial trailblazer who was one of the longest-serving members of California’s Supreme Court, died on Aug. 26, the Judicial Council announced. She was 85 years old. Kennard was just the second woman and the first justice of Asian descent to serve on the state’s high court when Gov. George Deukmejian appointed her in 1989.