Webcast of the Chief's State of the Judiciary today!

State of the Judiciary Address

Monday, March 27, 2017
4:00PM — 4:30PM

The address will be presented to a joint meeting of the state Senate and Assembly, and will be broadcast live on the California Channel beginning at 4PM.


A short summary:

The Chief spoke to the California Legislature for about 20 minutes, with all six other justices in attending. After presenting flowers to Justice Werdegar to honor her 55 years of public service, the Chief discussed the importance of the rule of law, and how the rule of law is currently under attack (e.g., we live in a time of civil rights unrest, unprecedented political polarization, and a proliferation of ethnic hate groups--California apparently is home to 79 recognized hate groups.) She then gave examples of failures of the rule of law, e.g., the Chinese exclusion acts, the Japanese internment (during which her in-laws were imprisoned for years at Tule Lake and in Colorado), and California’s shameful history of eugenically inspired forced sterilization from 1909 to 1970. She then raised examples of California leading the way for the rule of law, in key cases like Garcia, Mendez, and in striking down state anti-miscegenation laws. The upshot of all this was to urge the Legislature to provide proper and adequate funding so that California’s courts can preserve the rule of law.

The Recorder's report is California's Chief Justice Assails Trump Administration:
"Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, doubling down on her recent criticism of the Trump administration, on Monday told state lawmakers in an annual address that "the rule of law is being threatened." Cantil-Sakauye, who did not name President Donald Trump, used her State of the Judiciary remarks to raise concern about "eroding trust in our institutions" and civil rights "unrest." The rule of law, she said, "means that as a people, we are governed by laws, not by a monarch." "

[4/7 Update: A transcript of the Chief's remarks is now available here.]