California

Supreme Court Justices: 7

Method of Selection: gubernatorial appointment; confirmation by commission on judicial appointments.

Method of Retention: retention election.

Length of Term: 12 years

 Summary:
  

• Trial court judges are subject to election, and some campaigns have been costly.
  

• In 2010, voters in San Diego County turned back a slate of candidates backed by religious and social conservatives; the slate which was seeking to oust four incumbent Superior Court judges.
   
• A federal judge overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriages in 2010 and afterward faced calls from critics for his impeachment.
  

• In 2010, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger named the state Supreme Court's first Filipina American chief justice, Tani Cantil-Sakauye.

• California was ranked 46th in the nation for its litigation climate in courts, in a 2009 U.S. Chamber of Commerce survey.

• California was the scene of a widely publicized retention election revolt in which three justices, including Chief Justice Rose Bird, were voted off the court in 1986 for decisions overturning the death penalty.

To Learn More:

• The American Judicature Society's "Judicial Selection in the States" web site has state-specific information on California, including summaries of Campaign Conduct codes for judicial candidates.