Second LGBTQ justice is confirmed to state’s top court
A state commission on Thursday confirmed Gov. Gavin Newsom’s nomination of Kelli Evans, an Alameda County Superior Court judge and former civil rights attorney, to the California Supreme Court, filling the vacancy that will be created when Patricia Guerrero becomes chief justice in January.
Evans had been a lawyer on Newsom’s staff since 2019 when the governor appointed her to the Superior Court in Oakland, her hometown, in July 2021. Before that, she had been a public defender in Sacramento County from 1995 to 1998 while also serving as an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, where she returned as associate director in 2010. She also spent three years in the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and three years in a State Bar administrative office and was a member of court-appointed monitoring teams for the Oakland and Cleveland police departments.
She grew up in a public housing project and then in an apartment with federal funding, according to Newsom’s office. While working 20 hours a week to support her family, she graduated near the top of her class in high school, then attended Stanford University and UC Davis Law School, where she received an award for public service.
She will become the court’s first openly lesbian justice and its second LBGTQ justice, along with Martin Jenkins, another Newsom appointee. She will also be the third Black justice on the current court, along with Jenkins and Leondra Kruger. Evans’ wife, Terri Shaw, and daughter Kaden EvansShaw attended Thursday’s hearing in San Francisco.
Evans was unanimously confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which consists of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Attorney General Rob Bonta and the state’s senior presiding appeals court justice, Manuel Ramirez of Los Angeles. Cantil-Sakauye is retiring in January and will be succeeded by another Newsom appointee, Justice Guerrero. Guerrero became the court’s first Latina justice in March when Newsom appointed her to replace Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, who left to become president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
On Tuesday, 70% of the state’s approved a 12-year term for Guerrero as chief justice, and similar majorities awarded new terms to Justices Martin Jenkins, Goodwin Liu and Joshua Groban. With the addition of Evans, the court will have six Democratic appointees among its seven justices, but most of its opinions have been unanimous in recent years.
Evans takes office in January and is scheduled to be on the ballot for a new 12-year term in 2026. The state’s Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation rated her highly, saying that “Judge Evans’ 28year legal career in both criminal and civil law has been marked by excellence and a demonstrated commitment to ensuring that all individuals receive due process and equal protection under the law.”