Patricia Guerrero

This article is about the California Supreme Court justice. For the Peruvian athlete, see Patricia Guerrero (athlete).

Patricia Guerrero
29th Chief Justice of California
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 2, 2023
Appointed byGavin Newsom
Preceded byTani Cantil-Sakauye
Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
In office
March 28, 2022 – January 1, 2023
Appointed byGavin Newsom
Preceded byMariano-Florentino Cuéllar
Succeeded byKelli Evans
Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District
Division One
In office
December 14, 2017 – March 27, 2022
Appointed byJerry Brown
Preceded byAlex McDonald
Succeeded byJulia C. Kelety
Judge of the San Diego County Superior Court
In office
May 21, 2013 – December 13, 2017
Appointed byJerry Brown
Preceded byGonzalo P. Curiel
Succeeded byWilliam Wood
Personal details
Born (1971-12-07) December 7, 1971 (age 52)
California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)
Stanford University (JD)

Patricia Guerrero (born December 7, 1971)[1][2] is an American judge who is the 29th chief justice of California and served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California from March 2022 through December 2022. Guerrero was previously an associate justice of the California Court of Appeal for the Fourth District, Division One from 2017 to 2022, a judge on the San Diego County Superior Court from 2013 to 2017 and an assistant U.S. attorney in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California from 2002 to 2003. On August 10, 2022, Guerrero was nominated to the position of chief justice of California by Governor Gavin Newsom. She is a Democrat.[3]

Education

[edit]

Guerrero was born in California to parents from Mexico. She was raised in the Imperial Valley. At the age of 16, Guerrero worked at a grocery store. Guerrero graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1994.[4] She earned a Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1997.[5]

Career

[edit]

Guerrero performed pro bono work as a member of the Immigration Justice Project advisory board.[2] From 2002 to 2003, Guerrero served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Southern District of California. She joined the law firm of Latham & Watkins as an associate and was promoted to partner in 2006.[5]

Judicial service

[edit]

In 2013, Guerrero became a judge on the San Diego County Superior Court and served as the supervising judge for its family law division in 2017. Later in 2017, she became an appellate justice on the Court of Appeal for the Fourth District, Division One, the state intermediate appellate court with jurisdiction over appeals from San Diego and Imperial counties.[5]

In February 2022, Guerrero was nominated by Governor Gavin Newsom to replace Associate Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar on the Supreme Court of California. Guerrero was approved by a 3-0 vote of the Commission on Judicial Appointments on March 22, 2022[6] and is the first Latina to serve on the Supreme Court of California.[5] On August 10, 2022, Governor Newsom nominated Guerrero to serve as the chief justice of California.[7] On August 26, she was confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.[8] As of November 11, 2022, following the 2022 election, she was retained by California voters to be elevated as the chief justice with 70% of an affirmative vote.[9] She was sworn in as chief justice on January 2, 2023.[10]

Guerrero also serves as the chair of the California Supreme Court Historical Society, a non-profit organization that primarily conducts historical research on the California Supreme Court.[11][12]


References

[edit]
  1. ^ "California Birth Index".
  2. ^ a b "Newsom Nominates Patricia Guerrero to Be First Latina Justice on State Supreme Court". Los Angeles Times. February 15, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  3. ^ "San Diego Judge Is First Latina Nominated to California Supreme Court". Times of San Diego. February 16, 2022. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  4. ^ "Patricia Guerrero, Associate Justice - 4DCA". Courts.ca.gov. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d Acevedo, Nicole (February 15, 2022). "California nominates its first Latina judge to state Supreme Court". Nbcnews.com. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  6. ^ "Judge confirmed as 1st Latina on California Supreme Court". MSN.
  7. ^ "Governor Newsom Announces Historic Supreme Court Nominations" (Press release). Sacramento, California: Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. August 10, 2022. Retrieved August 13, 2022.
  8. ^ Miller, Cheryl (August 26, 2022). "Patricia Guerrero Confirmed as California's Next Chief Justice". The Recorder. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  9. ^ "State Supreme Court - Statewide Results". electionresults.sos.ca.gov. November 11, 2022. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  10. ^ "New California Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero Takes Office".
  11. ^ "CSCHS Board of Directors". California Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
  12. ^ "About the Society". California Supreme Court Historical Society. Retrieved September 3, 2024.
Legal offices
Preceded by Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court
2022–2023 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Chief Justice of California
2023–present 		Incumbent
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