The DJ appellate profile parade continues with:
Justice Danny Chou, an appellate lawyer at heart, faces first retention vote -- Justice Danny Y. Chou of the 1st District Court of Appeal, a longtime public-law appellate lawyer who helped win marriage equality and a lead paint judgment against manufacturers, faces his first retention vote.
Appellate work has run through Chou's career. "One of the things I really do enjoy is research and writing," he told the Daily Journal in 2019, "to the extent that I've looked for work that includes that as a component." After Harvard Law School, he clerked for a federal judge, practiced privately and worked at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals before spending seven years at the California Supreme Court, where he became a supervising staff attorney. In 2006, he became chief of appellate litigation at the San Francisco City Attorney's Office and helped establish the right of same-sex couples to marry in California in state and federal court.
Hoffstadt brings questioning style to role leading Division 5 -- Presiding Justice Brian M. Hoffstadt of the 2nd District Court of Appeal, Division 5, known for questioning lawyers early and often, asks voters to keep him on the bench.
1st District Presiding Justice Tracie Brown seeks 12-year term -- Presiding Justice Tracie L. Brown of the 1st District Court of Appeal, a former federal prosecutor who wrote the opinion largely upholding Proposition 22, seeks a full 12-year term.Presiding Justice Stewart prizes consensus as murder law shifts -- Stewart, who argued San Francisco's marriage-equality cases before joining the bench, has written a series of opinions reversing denials of resentencing as California narrowed murder liability.
Former prosecutor, family law judge seeks full 12-year appellate term -- Justice Gregory J. Weingart, a former federal prosecutor, Munger Tolles partner and family law judge, brings a varied background to cases ranging from billion-dollar damages to domestic violence as he faces his first retention vote.
Former teacher's rulings range from school safety to dependency law -- Justice Victor G. Viramontes of the 2nd District Court of Appeal, a former civil rights litigator and sixth-grade teacher, faces his first retention vote.