The Supreme Court of California is the highest judicial body in the state and sits at the apex of the judiciary of California. Art. VI, Sec. 1. Its membership consists of the Chief Justice of California and six associate justices who are nominated by the Governor of California and appointed after confirmation by the California Commission on Judicial Appointments. Art. VI, Sec. 2, 7, 16(a). The Commission consists of the Chief Justice, the Attorney General of California, and the state's senior presiding justice of the California Courts of Appeal; the senior Associate Justice fills the Chief Justice's spot on the commission when a new Chief Justice is nominated. Art. VI, Sec. 7. Justices of the Supreme Court serve 12-year terms and receive a salary which is currently set at $250,075 per year for the Chief Justice and between $228,703 and $236,260 per year for each associate justice. Art. VI, Sec. 16.

Under the 1849 Constitution of California, the Supreme Court had a chief justice and two associate justices, with six-year terms of office. Art. VI, Sec. 2, 3. An 1862 constitutional amendment expanded the Court to a Chief Justice and four associate justices, with 10-year terms. Since the adoption of the 1879 Constitution, the Court has had a chief justice and six associate justices, with 12-year terms.

The 1849 Constitution specified that the first Supreme Court justices would be appointed by the Legislature and that the justices would be subject to partisan direct elections from that point forward. The Governor could appoint justices in the event of a vacancy on the Court in between the elections. In 1910, elections for the Supreme Court became nonpartisan. In 1934, the state implemented the present system of gubernatorial appointment with retention elections, replacing the direct election of justices.

List of justices Chief Justice Jackson Temple did not seek re-election in 1871, was elected as an associate justice in 1886 but resigned in 1889, and was again elected as an associate justice in 1895, serving until his death in 1902. Therefore, he is listed three times. denotes justices who served as chief justice for at least part of their tenure on the court while denotes currently-serving justices. Name Assumed office Vacated office Appointed byS. Clinton Hastings* December 22, 1849 January 1, 1852 LegislatureNathaniel Bennett December 26, 1849 October 3, 1851 Henry A. Lyons* December 26, 1849 March 31, 1852 Hugh Murray* October 11, 1851 September 18, 1857 John McDougallSolomon Heydenfeldt January 20, 1852 January 6, 1857 Direct electionAlexander O. Anderson April 6, 1852 November 2, 1852 John BiglerAlexander Wells January 3, 1853 October 31, 1854 Direct electionCharles Henry Bryan November 24, 1854 November 15, 1855 John BiglerDavid S. Terry* November 15, 1855 September 12, 1859 Direct electionPeter Hardeman Burnett January 13, 1857 October 12, 1857 J. N. JohnsonStephen Johnson Field* October 13, 1857 May 20, 1863 Joseph G. Baldwin October 2, 1858 January 2, 1862 Direct electionWarner Cope* September 20, 1859 January 2, 1864 John B. WellerEdward Norton December 18, 1861 January 2, 1864 Direct electionEdwin B. Crocker May 21, 1863 January 2, 1864 Leland StanfordJohn Currey* January 2, 1864 January 6, 1868 Direct electionAugustus Rhodes* January 2, 1864 January 5, 1880 Silas Sanderson* January 2, 1864 January 4, 1870 Lorenzo Sawyer* January 2, 1864 January 10, 1870 Oscar L. Shafter January 2, 1864 December 11, 1867 Joseph B. Crockett December 1867 January 5, 1880 Henry Huntly HaightRoyal T. Sprague* January 6, 1868 February 24, 1872 Direct electionWilliam T. Wallace January 10, 1870 January 5, 1880 Jackson Temple January 10, 1870 January 1, 1872 Henry Huntly HaightAddison Niles January 1, 1872 January 5, 1880 Direct electionIsaac S. Belcher March 4, 1872 January 5, 1874 Newton BoothElisha W. McKinstry January 5, 1874 October 1, 1888 Direct electionRobert F. Morrison* January 5, 1880 March 2, 1887 Samuel B. McKee January 5, 1880 January 3, 1887 Milton H. Myrick January 5, 1880 January 3, 1887 Erskine M. Ross January 5, 1880 October 1, 1886 John Sharpstein January 5, 1880 December 28, 1892 James D. Thornton January 5, 1880 January 5, 1891 Jackson Temple December 13, 1886 June 25, 1889 Van R. Paterson December 22, 1886 May 3, 1894 Thomas Bard McFarland December 28, 1886 September 1908 Niles Searls* April 20, 1887 November 6, 1888 Washington BartlettJohn D. Works October 2, 1888 January 5, 1891 Robert WatermanWilliam H. Beatty* November 6, 1888 August 4, 1914 Direct electionCharles N. Fox June 25, 1889 January 7, 1891 Robert WatermanJohn J. De Haven December 18, 1890 January 7, 1895 Direct electionCharles H. Garoute December 19, 1890 January 5, 1903 Ralph C. Harrison December 20, 1890 January 5, 1903 William F. Fitzgerald February 2, 1893 January 7, 1895 Henry MarkhamWilliam C. Van Fleet May 7, 1894 January 3, 1899 Frederick W. Henshaw December 29, 1894 January 1, 1918 Direct electionJackson Temple January 7, 1895 December 25, 1902 Walter Van Dyke December 22, 1898 December 25, 1905 Frank M. Angellotti* December 11, 1902 November 15, 1921 Lucien Shaw* December 11, 1902 January 1923 William G. Lorigan January 7, 1903 January 1919 Henry GageM. C. Sloss December 19, 1906 March 1, 1919 George PardeeHenry A. Melvin September 28, 1908 December 1920 Direct electionMatt Sullivan* August 22, 1914 January 4, 1915 Hiram JohnsonWilliam P. Lawlor January 3, 1915 July 25, 1926 Direct electionCurtis D. Wilbur* January 1, 1918 March 19, 1924 William StephensThomas J. Lennon December 20, 1918 August 14, 1926 Direct election Warren Olney Jr. March 1, 1919 July 1921 William StephensWilliam A. Sloane May 15, 1920 January 7, 1923 Charles A. Shurtleff July 2, 1921 December 1922 William H. Waste* November 25, 1921 June 6, 1940 Terry W. Ward December 19, 1922 January 8, 1923 Direct electionFrank H. Kerrigan January 8, 1923 February 11, 1924 Emmett Seawell January 8, 1923 July 7, 1939 Louis Wescott Myers* January 15, 1923 January 1, 1926 Friend RichardsonJohn E. Richards February 11, 1924 December 1932 John W. Shenk April 14, 1924 August 3, 1959 Jesse W. Curtis Sr. January 1, 1926 January 1, 1945 Frank G. Finlayson October 4, 1926 December 11, 1926 Jeremiah F. Sullivan November 22, 1926 December 1926 John W. Preston December 27, 1926 October 6, 1935 Direct electionWilliam Langdon January 4, 1927 August 1939 Ira F. Thompson December 31, 1932 August 4, 1937 James Rolph Jr.Nathaniel P. Conrey October 6, 1935 November 2, 1936 Frank MerriamDouglas L. Edmonds November 23, 1936 December 31, 1955 Frederick W. Houser October 1, 1937 October 12, 1942 Jesse W. Carter September 12, 1939 March 15, 1959 Culbert OlsonPhil S. Gibson* October 2, 1939 August 30, 1964 Roger J. Traynor* August 13, 1940 January 31, 1970 B. Rey Schauer December 18, 1942 September 15, 1964 Homer R. Spence January 2, 1945 June 1, 1960 Earl WarrenMarshall F. McComb January 3, 1956 May 3, 1977 Goodwin KnightRaymond E. Peters March 25, 1959 January 2, 1973 Pat BrownThomas P. White August 25, 1959 October 31, 1962 Maurice T. Dooling Jr. June 30, 1960 June 30, 1962 Mathew Tobriner July 2, 1962 January 20, 1981 Paul Peek December 2, 1962 December 16, 1966 Stanley Mosk September 1, 1964 June 19, 2001 Louis H. Burke November 20, 1964 November 30, 1974 Raymond L. Sullivan December 20, 1966 January 19, 1977 Donald Wright* April 17, 1970 February 1, 1977 Ronald ReaganWilliam P. Clark Jr. March 23, 1973 March 24, 1981 Frank K. Richardson December 2, 1974 December 2, 1983 Wiley Manuel March 24, 1977 January 5, 1981 Jerry BrownRose Bird* March 26, 1977 January 5, 1987 Frank C. Newman July 16, 1977 December 13, 1982 Otto Kaus July 21, 1981 October 16, 1985 Allen Broussard July 22, 1981 August 31, 1991 Cruz Reynoso February 11, 1982 January 4, 1987 Joseph Grodin December 27, 1982 January 5, 1987 Malcolm M. Lucas* April 6, 1984 May 1, 1996 George DeukmejianEdward A. Panelli December 24, 1985 May 3, 1994 John Arguelles March 18, 1987 March 1, 1989 David Eagleson March 18, 1987 January 6, 1991 Marcus Kaufman March 18, 1987 January 31, 1990 Joyce L. Kennard April 5, 1989 April 5, 2014 Armand Arabian March 1, 1990 March 1, 1996 Marvin R. Baxter January 7, 1991 January 5, 2015 Ronald M. George* September 3, 1991 January 3, 2011 Pete WilsonKathryn Werdegar May 3, 1994 August 31, 2017 Janice Rogers Brown May 2, 1996 June 30, 2005 Ming Chin March 1, 1996 August 31, 2020 Carlos R. Moreno October 18, 2001 February 28, 2011 Gray DavisCarol Corrigan January 4, 2006 Present Arnold SchwarzeneggerTani Cantil-Sakauye* January 3, 2011 January 1, 2023 Arnold SchwarzeneggerGoodwin Liu September 1, 2011 Present Jerry BrownMariano-Florentino CuéllarJanuary 5, 2015 October 31, 2021 Jerry BrownLeondra R. Kruger January 5, 2015 Present Jerry BrownJoshua P. Groban January 3, 2019Martin Jenkins December 4, 2020 October 31, 2025 Gavin NewsomPatricia Guerrero* March 29, 2022 Present Gavin NewsomKelli Evans January 2, 2023

References

Sources

External links California Courts Past & Present Justices California Supreme Court Justices from the California Supreme Court Historical Society Supreme Court of California