Appellate tidbits

Today's DJ has Marc Alexander's book review of Justice Breyer's "The Authority of the Courts and the Peril of Politics," titled Do Justices studiously try to avoid deciding cases on the basis of ideology?

Yesterday's DJ Moskovitz on Appeal begins a 4-part series titled My Most Memorable Client.

Yesterday's MetNews has Ninth Circuit Judges Spar Over Citing Unpublished Cases: Rawlinson Argues in Dissent That Court of Appeal or Appellate Divisions Opinions Not Certified for Publication Can Provide Insights As to How the California Supreme Court Would Decide Questions of State Law about State Farm v. Penske Truck Leasing.

The Recorder has an interview with M.C. Sungaila, Q&A: Buchalter’s Appellate Chair Says Virtual Arguments Can Be ‘Fun’.

Want some mentoring about how to become a 1st District Justice? Apply via the California Judicial Mentor Program (Appellate). Read about it here: First Appellate District Launches Judicial Mentorship Program -- Mentorship program is part of a larger statewide effort to diversify the California bench

• For 15 years in a row, California’s judicial bench has grown more diverse, according to Judicial Council data. The number of female judicial officers has grown to nearly 38% of judicial officers across all levels, while the percentage of Asian, Black, and Hispanic judicial officers nearly doubled over the same period.
• But even with these encouraging trends, nearly two-thirds of the state’s justices and judges are men and 65% are white.

APABA presents a free Recent Trailblazers webinar program (Oct. 28 @ 5:30) featuring AG Rob Bonta, 4/1's Justice Truc Do, and other luminaries. Sign up here.

On the practice front, don't miss footnote 2 here, where the court tears into a "hideous" oversized appendix! The phrase "wretched excess" is cited. The court also provides this nice reminder: "Citing to the Register of Actions, rather than including the document itself, is an appropriate way to reference that a document was filed if its contents are unimportant to the issues on appeal."