Commission on Judicial Appointments to Consider Appointments to Courts of Appeal

May 21, 2012

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Commission on Judicial Appointments to Consider Appointments to Courts of Appeal

Confirmation Hearings Set June 28th for Fourth, Sixth Appellate Districts

The Earl Warren Building

SAN FRANCISCO—Two public meetings have been scheduled by the Commission on Judicial Appointments for Thursday, June 28, 2012, at 3:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. in the Supreme Court Courtroom, Earl Warren Building, 350 McAllister Street, located in the Ronald M. George State Office Complex, San Francisco, to consider the following appointments by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr.:

• Judge David A. Thompson, as Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three (Santa Ana), and
• Mr. Miguel Marquez, as Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District (San Jose).

Judge Thompson, Superior Court of Orange County, will fill the vacancy created by the elevation of Justice Kathleen E. O’Leary to Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three. Judge Thompson has served on the Superior Court of Orange County since 1997. Before that, he was an attorney with Morrison & Foerster from 1988 to 1997, Ruttan & Tucker from 1983 to 1988, and a staff attorney at the Fourth Appellate District in 1983.

Mr. Marquez will fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Associate Justice Richard J. McAdams from the Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District. Mr. Marquez has served as county counsel for Santa Clara County since 2009. He was general counsel, and previously assistant general counsel, of the San Francisco Unified School District from 2006 to 2008. Before that time, he was a deputy city attorney in the San Francisco City Attorney’s Office and deputy counsel for San Mateo County, as well as an attorney in private practice.

The state Constitution specifies that a gubernatorial appointment to the Supreme Court or the Court of Appeal is “effective when confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.”

The hearing for Judge Thompson is scheduled from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The hearing for Mr. Marquez is scheduled from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The members of the commission who will consider the appointment of Judge Thompson are Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, chair; Attorney General Kamala Harris; and Presiding Justice Manuel A. Ramirez, senior presiding justice of the Fourth Appellate District. The members of the commission who will consider the appointment of Mr. Marquez are Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye, chair; Attorney General Harris; and Administrative Presiding Justice Conrad Rushing, of the Sixth Appellate District.

All communications to the commission by persons who wish to comment on the appointment should be received by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 21, 2012.

The commission’s address is:

Commission on Judicial Appointments
c/o Chief Justice of California
Supreme Court of California
350 McAllister Street
San Francisco, California 94102 
Attention: Secretary to the Commission

Anyone wishing to testify before the commission must state that request in writing and include a summary of the facts on which any testimony or opinion will be based. A request to be included on the speakers’ list must be received by the commission by 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 21, 2012.

The guidelines for the Commission on Judicial Appointments are published as an appendix to the California Rules of Court and are available on the California Courts website