California Supreme Court Justice Joyce L. Kennard has announced her retirement after 25 years of service, effective April 5.
Kennard was the longest serving member of the court, having been elected and re-elected after her initial appointment by Gov. George Deukmajian in 1989. She was the second woman, and the first justice of Asian descent, to join the state’s highest court.
“Any success I achieved could have happened only in America, a land that encourages impossible dreams,” Kennard wrote in her letter of resignation to Gov. Jerry Brown.
Kennard, 72, maintained a reputation as one of the closest questioners on the court and was known for going her own way, according to The Recorder, an online legal news service.
Kennard was essential in one of the court’s most famous majorities in its history, the “2008 Marriage Cases” decision that recognized the right to same-sex marriage in California and kicked off a wave of similar actions around the country.
A significant component California parole boards use in deciding whether to grant parole is the inmate’s current dangerousness. Kennard voted with the majority in a 4 to 3 decision ruling that the circumstances of a commitment offense do not provide evidence that a defendant poses a current threat to public safety.
Prior to Kennard’s departure, the California Supreme Court boasted a majority of women and of Asian Americans, with a chief justice who shares both characteristics.
The vacancy gives Gov. Brown his second pick of a state Supreme Court justice during this term. Brown appointed Justice Goodwin Liu in 2011 and, in his three terms as governor, has appointed nine justices to the California Supreme Court.
