California Chief Justice Ronald George has announced his retirement, report Bob Egelko in the SF Chron, Maura Dolan in the LA Times, and Paul Elias for AP.
Under Chief Justice George and his predecessor, Chief Justice Malcolm Lucas, the California Supreme Court has been rebuilt from the wreckage of the national disgrace that the court had become under the infamous Rose Bird.
Although justices often time their retirements to have their successors appointed by reasonably like-minded executives, they rarely say so publicly. George was candid about it, though. He wants his successor appointed by the Governator. If he waited until the next gubernatorial term, there is about a 50-50 chance that his successor would be appointed by none other than the same person who appointed Bird -- Jerry Brown.
One area where George has been unsuccessful is in speeding up the appeals of capital cases. Dolan quotes Gerald Uelmen saying George "has been powerless to do anything about it." I wouldn't say that. There are many things the judiciary could do, and the CJ has considerable clout in the judiciary. I have put some suggestions in a separate post.
Under Chief Justice George and his predecessor, Chief Justice Malcolm Lucas, the California Supreme Court has been rebuilt from the wreckage of the national disgrace that the court had become under the infamous Rose Bird.
Although justices often time their retirements to have their successors appointed by reasonably like-minded executives, they rarely say so publicly. George was candid about it, though. He wants his successor appointed by the Governator. If he waited until the next gubernatorial term, there is about a 50-50 chance that his successor would be appointed by none other than the same person who appointed Bird -- Jerry Brown.
One area where George has been unsuccessful is in speeding up the appeals of capital cases. Dolan quotes Gerald Uelmen saying George "has been powerless to do anything about it." I wouldn't say that. There are many things the judiciary could do, and the CJ has considerable clout in the judiciary. I have put some suggestions in a separate post.
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