California Supreme Court Vacancy After Justice Martin Jenkins Retires

Martin Jenkins to Retire From the California Supreme Court

Martin Jenkins, a justice on the Supreme Court of California, is stepping down roughly five years after Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed him to the bench.

The move was praised widely by the political left, for Jenkins became the court’s first openly gay justice.

The 71-year-old Jenkins announced his retirement last week.

“I could not imagine a better capstone to my career on the bench than serving on the California Supreme Court,” he said.

Having been a judge at every level of the state court system and with the federal district court, I have seen firsthand how judges and justices at each stage of the judicial process faithfully apply the law in a fair and empathetic manner. I have strived to do the same as a trial judge, at the First District Court of Appeal, and finally, at the California Supreme Court.

An official court biography lays out a long record of state and federal service.

Jenkins, 71, spent almost two years advising Governor Newsom on judicial appointments prior to filling the vacancy on the court created by Associate Justice Ming Chin’s retirement. Before joining the Newsom administration, Jenkins served as an associate justice on the First District Court of Appeal from 2008 to 2019 and as a federal district judge at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California from 1997 to 2008.

Earlier, Jenkins served as a judge on the Alameda County Superior Court (1992–1997) and on the Oakland Municipal Court (1989–1992). Jenkins’s prior experience as a practitioner included three years as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and three years a prosecutor with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office.

He will step down at the end of October, creating a vacancy on the seven-member court. Its current members include two other Newsom appointees, Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero and Justice Kelli Evans; three appointees of former Gov. Jerry Brown, and one Republican appointee, Justice Carol Corrigan, chosen by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Now, Newsom will get to put another judge on the court.

The outlet continues, “Newsom will nominate his successor and request confirmation from the state’s Commission on Judicial Appointments, which is chaired by Guerrero.”

With Democrats firmly in control of Sacramento, Newsom will face almost no resistance to his pick.

The real question is how far to the left he is willing to push the court with his next pick.

This seat matters because state supreme courts set the law on issues like property rights, criminal justice, business regulation, and election law.

A left-leaning justice can tilt rulings on everything from free exercise to private contracts.

The confirmation process is essentially a formality in a one-party state and that has consequences for balance on the bench.

The Commission on Judicial Appointments is chaired by a Newsom appointee, which makes a smooth path likely.

Conservative groups and concerned voters will watch this nomination closely and speak up during the process.

They can highlight records and push for answers on judicial philosophy and respect for precedent.

Jenkins leaves behind a long record of public service across municipal, county, state, and federal benches, but the next appointee will reveal the direction the court takes on hot-button cases.