Today's Los Angeles Times reports, "Gov. Jerry Brown appoints Goodwin Liu to California Supreme Court." It's writtein by Maura Dolan, Maria L. La Ganga, and Jessica Garrison.
Gov. Jerry Brown has appointed UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to the California Supreme Court, picking a liberal legal scholar whose nomination for a seat on a federal appeals court was stubbornly blocked by conservative Republicans.
Liu, 40, whose nomination is expected to be approved by a three-member confirmation panel, will become the fourth Asian on the seven-member, moderately conservative court and probably its most liberal member. He will take the seat left vacant by Justice Carlos Moreno, the court's sole Latino and Democrat who retired Feb. 28.
Liu became a top candidate for the post after Republicans scuttled his nomination by President Obama to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The day after a U.S. Senate vote ensured that Liu would not get the federal judgeship, the governor's office called him about the state high court.
Rather than viewing the lost confirmation battle as a strike against Liu, Brown said he considered it an asset. His advisors said they considered Liu's opponents in the Senate to be conservative extremists.
"The dysfunctionality in Washington and the blockage at all costs by the more extreme Republicans — I don't think that should be given a lot of intellectual weight," said Brown, who sources said offered Liu the job Sunday.
And:
Liu's writings suggest he is skeptical of the death penalty, although he has said he would have no difficulty enforcing it.
In 2006, during U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's confirmation hearings, Liu wrote: "Whatever one may think of the death penalty, Alito's record should give pause to all Americans committed to basic fairness and due process of law" because his "opinions show a troubling tendency to tolerate serious errors in capital proceedings."
Liu later said he regretted some of his hard-edged remarks about Alito.
"Brown nominates Goodwin Liu for state high court," by Bob Egelko for the San Franciso Chronicle.
Liu, 40, a Berkeley professor since 2003, is a former Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Supreme Court clerk and a widely published writer on legal issues. The American Bar Association gave his federal court nomination its highest rating, and he was endorsed by some conservatives, including Kenneth Starr, the former impeachment prosecutor of President Bill Clinton, and former Bush administration lawyer John Yoo, a Berkeley faculty colleague.
Blocked nomination
Obama first nominated Liu to the appeals court in February 2010, but Senate Republicans blocked a floor vote. Obama submitted his name a second time and his nomination was blocked again. On May 19, a third attempt to win nomination failed when his supporters fell eight votes short of the 60 needed to break a filibuster. Liu then asked Obama to withdraw his nomination.
"Jerry Brown picks Goodwin Liu for California Supreme Court," by David Siders for the Sacramento Bee.
The appointment was cheered by legal scholars but criticized by conservatives irked by Liu's advocacy of such causes as affirmative action and gay marriage.
Liu, 40, would replace retired Justice Carlos Moreno, the court's only Latino and only Democrat.
"Professor Liu is an extraordinary man and a distinguished legal scholar and teacher," Brown said in a statement. "He is a nationally-recognized expert on constitutional law and has experience in private practice, government service and in the academic community. I know that he will be an outstanding addition to our state supreme court."
Liu, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, was born in Georgia and moved to Sacramento when he was 7. He graduated in 1987 from Rio Americano High School, where he was co-valedictorian. He would become the court's fourth Asian American justice.
Liu's colleagues described him as even-tempered and intellectual, and Moreno called Liu a "brilliant scholar."
Earlier coverage of Liu's nomination to the 9th Circuit begins at the link.
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