Jerry Brown nominates Goodwin Liu to California Supreme Court

[cal04]

Source: Los Angeles Times

Gov. Jerry Brown nominated UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to the California Supreme Court Tuesday, giving the state high court a fourth Asian justice and a collegial liberal who is likely to be strongly supportive of civil rights.

Liu was President Obama's pick for a seat on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, but he failed to garner enough Republican support. Liu, 40, has never been a judge, but his colleagues at Berkeley, including conservatives, strongly endorsed him for the position.

Liu, a graduate of Yale Law School, is the son of Taiwanese immigrants. He was born in Georgia, grew up in Sacramento and has a history of public service.

Liu was a controversial pick for Obama, who nominated him twice. Senate Republicans criticized Liu's selection, saying that he was too left-leaning. Liu marked the first judicial pick to be blocked outright on the Senate floor since George W. Bush's first term.

Read more: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/07/brown-nominates-berkeley-professor-goodwin-liu-to-california-supreme-court.html

[Tikki]

1. Excellent news....

Tikki

[DarthDem]

2. Great to Hear

Go, Jerry! Mr. Liu will make a great justice.

[Cleita]

3. Too left leaning? I thought that was the idea of a

democracy, people coming together from different political POVs to work on governing or in this case to work on laws. But then since when do Republicans believe in real democracy?

[n2doc]

5. Anyone to the left of Dick Cheney is "too left leaning" for those bozos

At a minimum, Judges have to swear fealty to the almighty corporation (in blood) in order to pass the Senate.

[Firebrand Gary]

4. Jerry Brown I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE YOU!

This is Great NEWS!!!!!

[Hawaii Hiker]

6. This deserves a woo-hoo

Great news..

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :bounce: :woohoo:

[aquamarina]

7. Great call by Brown.

[BlueCaliDem]

8. This is really good news! K&R eom

[Dawson Leery]

9. k/r

[xchrom]

10. Good. Nt

[alp227]

11. right now the state supreme court has been unanimously Republican since Carlos Moreno resigned

I will vote for Liu next election! (Californians vote for state SC justices and other state judges.)

[disndat]

12. End of Schwarzenegger regime.

Great news. Elections have consequences.

[JDPriestly]

13. Good pick.

[tishaLA]

14. thank fucking god

he is one of the most impressive people I have seen in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The fact that his nomination was torpedoed by the wingnuts really infuriates me.

[ooglymoogly]

15. At long last, An intelligent man chooses another intelligent

man for one of the most important jobs in the state. Jerry Brown just may be our president one day. He is still young.

[SoapBox]

16. Bravo!

...I love California.

Ya, there are problems but compared to many States of Crazy, I'm VERY happy to be here.

[WheelWalker]

17. Jerry Brown walks the walk

[CBHagman]

18. Glad to hear this.

I was sick of the perpetual delays from the GOP on federal nominees.

[kpete]

19. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

jerry I have ALWAYS LOVED YOU!!!!

flower child/kpete/all of the above

thank you

[No Elephants]

20. Gotta love him. Both of them.

[NewJeffCT]

21. Didn't one Republican senator say he was overqualified?

to be on the circuit court before?

[blueclown]

22. Republicans are going to wish he was nominated to the 9th Circuit.

He'll be a Supreme Court judge soon.

[Marnie]

23. Obama's loss is Jerry Brown's gain.

Wonder who pushed harder for his appointee?

By default any effort by Brown or his staff would put him as the winner in that contest.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

24. Thank you, Jerry.

Good for us, but a loss for the country.

[ClarkUSA]

25. One hand giveth, one hand taketh away: "Jerry Brown vetoes bill that helps elderly, disabled." --->

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4936887

[usregimechange]

26. That is wonderful!!!

[cal04]

27. Jerry Brown defends high court nominee's lack of judicial experience

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/07/brown-defends-california-supreme-court-nominees-lack-of-judicial-experience.html

Gov. Jerry Brown said he was not bothered by his California Supreme Court nominee’s lack of judicial experience or that conservative Republicans painted him as a liberal ideologue in rejecting him for a seat on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

(snip)
"There’s no doubt in my mind that he has the background, the intellect and the vision to really help our California Supreme Court be again one of the great courts in the country," Brown said at a news conference in San Francisco.

Asked whether Liu's lack of judicial experience gave him pause, Brown replied with an emphatic no.

"Nor did it give Gov. (Culbert) Olson pause when he appointed Roger Traynor as a professor from Boalt Hall, University of California back in the '40s,” Brown said. “He became our most distinguished justice."