Josh Groban appeared on the San Francisco ballot on Election Day, when voters in California were asked whether he and Kelli Evans should be elected to the California Supreme Court for the term provided by law. The ballot also listed 13 appellate court justices, turning a little-noticed judicial process into one of the few times voters can weigh in directly.
1 page for 15 judges
The city and state voter pamphlets totaled over 425 pages, but judicial nominations got just 1 page. Half of that page carried biographical information on Groban and Evans, while the pamphlet said nothing about the appellate court justices. That is a thin record for a vote that covered 2 California Supreme Court Justices and 13 appellate court justices.
California's system looks elective on paper and almost nothing like that in practice. The California Constitution says Supreme Court justices, justices of the courts of appeal, and superior court judges shall be elected, yet the right to vote for judges has been eroded so much over the last century that it is almost nonexistent. Most Superior Court judges never face a contest at all unless an attorney challenges a sitting judge for another term.
Governor Newsom and 800 judges
More than 1,750 Superior Court judges preside over civil and criminal trials and other matters across California's 58 counties, and 52 judges sit in San Francisco Superior Court. Those judges typically serve 6-year terms, and unless they are challenged they are deemed elected without going before voters. San Francisco had a rare Superior Court election earlier this year because one judge retired too late for Governor Newsom to appoint a replacement.
By the time Governor Newsom leaves office in January, he will have appointed over 800 judges or justices to California courts. The California Judicial Council recommended creating 159 additional judgeships to address statewide workloads and backlogs, which shows how much of the system runs through appointments rather than the ballot box.
Xavier Becerra or Steve Hilton
The next governor could be Democrat Xavier Becerra or Republican Steve Hilton, and neither candidate's website discusses how he will appoint judges. As California attorney general from 2017 to 2021, Becerra was one of 3 members of the California Commission on Judicial Appointments, the body that reviews, holds a public hearing on, and votes on the initial confirmation of Supreme Court and appellate court justices.
That process has usually been quiet; only 1 of the last 50 hearings approached an hour in length. The practical question for voters is less about ideology than access: how do you judge Joshua Groban, Kelli Evans, and the appellate court justices when the official information is so sparse?
