A state court of last resort / Established 1849

Supreme Court of California

San Francisco · A court of last resort in California.

The Supreme Court of California is the highest court in California. Its justices are chosen by gubernatorial appointment from a nominating commission, followed by retention elections. This page lists every justice to serve on the court, current and former, with when they joined the bench and whom they succeeded.

Justices in history

Currently serving

Merit selection

Selection

12-yr

Term

Current bench verified against the court’s official roster, 2026-07-02. 1 of its 7 seats is vacant.

Current justices

Former justices

Justice	Years
Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar	2015–2021
Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye · Chief	2011
Carlos R. Moreno	2001–2011
Janice Rogers Brown	1994–2005
Kathryn Werdegar	1994–2017
Marvin R. Baxter	1988–2015
Ming William Chin	1988–2020
Joyce L. Kennard	1988–2014
Joseph R. Grodin	1979–1987
Rose Elizabeth Bird · Chief	1977–1987
Wiley Manuel	1977–1981
Frank C. Newman	1977–1982
Cruz Reynoso	1976–1987
Allen Broussard	1975–1991
Armand Arabian	1973–1996
William P. Clark Jr.	1973–1981
Ronald M. George	1972–1991
Edward A. Panelli	1972–1994
Frank K. Richardson	1971–1983
David Eagleson	1970–1991
Marcus Maurice Kaufman	1970–1990
Donald R. Wright · Chief	1970–1977
John Arguelles	1969–1989
Malcolm Millar Lucas · Chief	1967–1996
Raymond L. Sullivan	1966–1977
Louis H. Burke	1964–1974
Paul Peek	1962–1966
Mathew Tobriner	1962–1982
Otto Kaus	1961–1985
Maurice T. Dooling Jr.	1960–1962
Raymond E. Peters	1959–1973
Thomas P. White	1959–1962
Marshall F. McComb	1956–1977
Homer R. Spence	1945–1964
Stanley Mosk	1943–2001
B Rey Schauer	1942–1964
Roger J. Traynor	1940–1970
Jesse W. Carter	1939–1959
Phil S. Gibson	1939–1964
Frederick W. Houser	1937–1942
Douglas L. Edmonds	1936–1955
Nathaniel P. Conrey	1935–1936
Ira F. Thompson	1932–1937
William H. Langdon	1927–1939
Jesse W. Curtis Sr.	1926–1945
Frank G. Finlayson	1926–1926
John W. Preston	1926–1935
William H. Waste	1926–1940
John E. Richards	1924–1932
John Wesley Shenk	1924–1959
Frank Henry Kerrigan	1923–1924
Louis W. Myers	1923–1926
Emmet Seawell	1923–1939
Terry W. Ward	1922–1923
Charles A. Shurtleff	1921–1922
William A. Sloane	1920–1922
Thomas J. Lennon	1919–1926
Warren Olney	1919–1921
Curtis Dwight Wilbur	1918–1924
William P. Lawlor	1915–1926
Henry A. Melvin	1908–1920
M. C. Sloss	1906–1919
Frank M. Angellotti	1903–1921
William G. Lorigan	1903–1919
Lucien Shaw	1903–1923
Walter Van Dyke	1899–1905
Frederick W. Henshaw	1895–1918
John J. DeHaven	1891–1895
Charles H. Garoutte	1891–1903
Ralph C. Harrison	1891–1903
William H. Beatty	1889–1914
John D. Works	1888–1891
Thomas B. McFarland	1887–1908
A. Van. R. Paterson	1887–1894
Milton H. Myrick	1880–1887
James D. Thornton	1880–1891
Robert F. Morrison	1879–1887
E. W. McKinstry	1874–1888
Issac S. Belcher	1872–1874
Jackson Temple	1870–1872
William T. Wallace	1869–1879
Joseph B. Crockett	1867–1880
Silas S. Sanderson	1864–1866
Joseph G. Baldwin	1858–1862
Stephen Johnson Field	1857–1863
Solomon Heydenfeldt	1852–1857
Serranus Clinton Hastings	1850–1852
Nathaniel Bennett	1849–1851

How a justice reaches this court. Justices of the Supreme Court of California are appointed by the governor to 12-year terms and then face yes-or-no retention elections. The governor appoints a justice who must be confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, then faces an uncontested yes-or-no retention election and serves 12-year terms. Selection methods vary by jurisdiction and have changed over time; this page reflects the court’s current method (source: National Center for State Courts). Open any justice to see their tenure and whom they succeeded.

Source: Current roster: Supreme Court of California — Justices of the Court (supreme.courts.ca.gov) and CourtListener / Free Law Project (bulk data); selection method from the National Center for State Courts. Data as of 2026-07-02 (official roster); historical bench 2026-03-31 (CourtListener bulk snapshot). Verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).