The process for appointing judges to California’s court system has long been shrouded in secrecy and rumor, but that is now changing thanks to a unprecedented move by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

On June 26, Newsom announced the members of the eight Judicial Selection Advisory Committees around the state, including San Diego. The committees, comprised of local attorneys and judges, are the first step in the process of appointing judges to the state’s Superior Court and appellate courts.

Despite their importance, the names of the members of the local committees have for years been a closely-guarded secret. Those days are over, Newsom said when he made the announcement.

“Judges make decisions every day that affect every Californian,” he said “The people of our state have little insight on the process by which judges are chosen, it is only fair that the public knows who is helping to select the people who will serve them.”


Judges can be elected to the bench, but most are appointed by the governor in a process that has lacked transparency. After submitting an application for appointment through the Governor’s Office, candidates are immediately referred to the local committees, which then conducts an assessment of the candidates by speaking with others in the legal community about their legal ability, temperament, background and other traits.

The committees then forward recommendations to the Governor’s Office, which decides on the candidates who will move along in the process. A negative recommendation from the local committees can usually doom a candidacy early on.

In a news release, Newsom’s office said the local committees will provide “preliminary, non-partisan feedback on candidates and help promote a diverse and inclusive nomination process for California’s judiciary.”

For the past several years, the lack of diversity in the state’s judiciary has been a repeated concern for advocates pressing for more women and minorities to be appointed to the bench to reflect the state’s wide diversity. Former Gov. Jerry Brown sought to do this as well as bring a diversity of experience — such as appointing numerous public defenders and consumer advocates — the the courts.


A survey by the state Judicial Council last year found that between 2011 and 2017, women accounted for more than half of all appointees to the bench by Brown, and some 40 percent of all appointees identified as non-white. Women now account for 35 percent of the state bench, compared to 26 percent in 2006, according to the survey.

While the survey showed 67.5 percent of the bench is white, that’s down from 70 percent in 2006 , when a new state law required the council to compile and release diversity data annually. In that time, the percentage of judicial officers identifying their ethnicity as Asian rose to 7 percent from 4 percent, African-American increased to 7 percent from 4 percent, and Hispanic to 10 percent from 6 percent.

The list of members for San Diego can be found here.