Goodwin Liu, the legal scholar whose nomination for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit was blocked by Senate Republicans, has just received a pretty good consolation prize: he has been nominated to fill a vacancy on the California Supreme Court.
Gov. Jerry Brown described his nominee on Tuesday as “an extraordinary man and a distinguished legal scholar and teacher,” according to a report in The Los Angeles Times.
“I’m deeply honored by Gov. Brown’s nomination and look forward to the opportunity to serve the people of California on our state’s highest court,” said Liu, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley. If confirmed, he would give the seven-member tribunal its fourth jurist of Asian heritage.
Brown has forwarded Liu’s name to the State Bar’s Commission of Judicial Nominees Evaluation. The appointment will not become final until the Commission on Judicial Appointments — consisting of state Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris and Justice Joan Dempsey Klein, senior presiding justice of the state Court of Appeal — confirms the nomination, The Times said.
As Main Justice reported in May, Liu withdrew his nomination to the 9th Circuit in May, when it seemed clear that Senate Republicans would not relent. They contended that Liu is too liberal, and that putting him on the 9th Circuit — already widely regarded as the most liberal of the 13 circuits — would be harmful.
If Liu will be less harmful, from the Republicans’ perspective, on the California Supreme Court, he will also be better paid than if he were on the 9th Circuit. California justices earn $218,237 a year — about $39,000 more than their federal circuit brethren.
