}
Kathryn Jocelyn Mickle Werdegar (born April 5, 1936) is a former
Associate Justice
Associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some sta ...
of the
Supreme Court of California, serving from June 3, 1994, to August 31, 2017.
Biography
Werdegar earned her
B.A.
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...
with
honors
Honour (or honor in American English) is the quality of being honorable.
Honor or Honour may also refer to:
People
* Honor (given name), a unisex given name
* Brian Honour (born 1964), English footballer and manager
* Gareth Honor (born 1979 ...
at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
and then attended the
University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall), class of 1962, before completing her
J.D. degree at the
George Washington University Law School, where she graduated as
valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title for the highest-performing student of a graduating class of an academic institution.
The valedictorian is commonly determined by a numerical formula, generally an academic institution's grade point average (GPA ...
of her class. While at Boalt Hall, Werdegar served as editor-in-chief of the ''
California Law Review
''California Law Review'' (also referred to as ''CLR'') is the journal of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. It was established in 1912. The application process consists of an anonymous write-on competition, with grades playing ...
''. In 1961, she married David Werdegar.
[
In 1962, following graduation, she joined the Civil Rights Division of the ]United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...
working under Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...
in Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
In 1963, after returning to California, she held a series of legal and teaching positions, including associate dean and professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law
The University of San Francisco School of Law (USF Law) is the law school of the private University of San Francisco. Established in 1912, it received American Bar Association accreditation in 1935 and joined the Association of American Law Sc ...
. In 1981, she was hired as a research attorney for the state courts, where she worked with various justices, and then worked directly with Edward A. Panelli as a senior attorney.
In 1991, Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Pete Wilson
Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California betw ...
appointed Werdegar as an associate justice of the California Court of Appeal
The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts. , First District.
In August 1994, Governor Wilson elevated Werdegar to the Supreme Court. In November 1994, a few months after her appointment, she won a retention election
A judicial retention election (or retention referendum) is a periodic process in some jurisdictions whereby a judge is subject to a referendum held at the same time as a general election. The judge is removed from office if a majority of votes ar ...
. In November 2002, she was again retained by the electorate with 74.1% percent of the vote. In November 2014, she was elected again to a 12-year term. On August 31, 2017, she retired from the high court. Governor Jerry Brown
Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of ...
appointed Joshua Groban
Joshua Paul Groban (born August 15, 1973) is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the California Supreme Court. He was appointed to the California Supreme Court by Governor Jerry Brown on November 14, 2018.
Education and law ...
to fill the remainder of her term.
The Center for Public Integrity reported that Werdegar ruled in a case involving Wells Fargo & Co., a corporation in which she owned "between $100,001 and $1 million in stock." The Center reported that Werdegar "denied an appeal to a couple who accused Wells Fargo of predatory lending and unlawful foreclosure."
The judge responded through California Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...
spokesman Cathal Conneely, the Center reported. "The justice regrets the error and thanks you for bringing it to her attention."
"The Supreme Court is reexamining its internal conflict of interest procedures to prevent similar errors in the future," Conneely said.
In 2008, Justice Werdegar joined the majority opinion in the consolidated California marriage cases known as ''In re Marriage Cases
''In re Marriage Cases'', 43 Cal. 4th 757 (Cal. 2008) was a California Supreme Court case where the court held that laws treating classes of persons differently based on sexual orientation should be subject to strict judicial scrutiny, and that ...
''. The court's 4-3 ruling legalized same-sex marriage in California from June 19, 2008 – November 4, 2008. The majority ruled that sexual orientation is a protected class under the California constitution and that strict scrutiny is required to review any laws distinguishing based on such. The opinion was rooted in the Equal Protection Clause of the California constitution, one similar to the one found in the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The court's ruling was superseded by Proposition 8
Proposition 8, known informally as Prop 8, was a California ballot proposition and a state constitutional amendment intended to ban same-sex marriage; it passed in the November 2008 California state elections and was later overturned in cou ...
passed by California voters. Prop 8 was ultimately ruled unconstitutional in 2010, with the lengthy appeals process concluding in June 2013.
Notable decisions
''Smith v. Fair Employment & Housing Com.'' (1996) 12 Cal.4th 1143: A landlord who believed that renting to an unmarried couple is sinful was not constitutionally entitled to an exemption from a California law barring housing discrimination.
'' People v. Superior Court (Romero)'' (1996) 13 Cal.4th 497: California's "Three Strikes" law did not deprive trial courts of the power to dismiss a prior conviction allegation in furtherance of justice; courts have the authority to "strike a strike."
''People v. Hill'' (1998) 17 Cal.4th 800: Prosecutorial misconduct over the course of a trial can have such a cumulatively prejudicial effect as to require reversing a criminal conviction.
''Conservatorship of Wendland'' (2001) 26 Cal.4th 519: The conservator of a person who is severely impaired but conscious, and who has not left formal instructions or an appointed an agent for health care decisions, cannot withhold nutrition and hydration from the person unless it is shown by clear and convincing evidence to be the person's wish or in the person's best interests.
''Sharon S. v. Superior Court'' (2003) 31 Cal.4th 417: California family law allowed a second parent adoption
The second-parent adoption or co-parent adoption is a process by which a partner, who is not biologically related to the child, can adopt their partner's biological or adoptive child without terminating the first legal parent's rights. This proce ...
(adoption by a nonbiological parent without change in biological parent's rights and responsibilities) by the lesbian partner of the biological mother.
''People v. Diaz
''People v. Diaz'', 51 Cal. 4th 84, 244 P.3d 501, 119 Cal. Rptr. 3d 105 (Cal. January 3, 2011) was a Supreme Court of California case, which held that police are not required to obtain a warrant to search information contained within a cell pho ...
'' (2011) 51 Cal.4th 84, 103 (dissent): The majority held police could search the contents of an arrested person's mobile phone without a warrant, probable cause or emergency need. Justice Werdegar dissented, concluding the warrantless search violated the Fourth Amendment. The United States Supreme Court later reached the same conclusion as Justice Werdegar. (''Riley v. California'' (2014) 134 S.Ct. 2473.)
''Brinker Restaurant Corp. v. Superior Court'' (2012) 53 Cal.4th 1004: Allowing a class action seeking compensation for an employer's violation of California wage and hour law. The guarantee of breaks for meals means the employer must relieve the employee of all duties during the break period, but need not ensure that no work is actually done.
''Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Court (Anderson)'' (2016) 1 Cal.5th 783, 813 (dissent): The majority held a California court had jurisdiction over claims of personal injury from use of a prescription pharmaceutical by residents of other states who neither purchased the drug in California nor were injured in the state. Justice Werdegar dissented, concluding the absence of a significant relationship between the defendant's activities in California and the nonresidents' claims deprived the court of jurisdiction. The United States Supreme Court reviewed the ruling and on June 19, 2017, issued its opinion in ''Bristol-Myers Squibb v. Superior Court of California'', No. 16-466, agreeing with Justice Werdegar's earlier dissenting opinion.
References
Selected publications
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*
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*
Video
*
External links
Biography
at California Supreme Court website.
California Court of Appeal, First District.
Kathryn Mickle Werdegar profile
The Recorder.com.
Justice Kathryn M. Werdegar profile
Robert Crown Law Library, Stanford Law School.
Supreme Court opinions
an
Court of Appeal opinions
by Kathryn M. Werdegar. Courtlistener.com.
California State Courts.
See also
* List of justices of the Supreme Court of California
The Supreme Court of California is the highest judicial body in the state and sits at the apex of the judiciary of California. Its membership consists of the Chief Justice of California and six associate justices who are nominated by the Govern ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Werdegar, Kathryn Mickle
1936 births
Living people
Justices of the Supreme Court of California
Judges of the California Courts of Appeal
Women in California politics
University of California, Berkeley alumni
UC Berkeley School of Law alumni
George Washington University Law School alumni
University of San Francisco faculty
Lawyers from San Francisco
20th-century American judges
21st-century American judges
California Republicans
20th-century American women judges
21st-century American women judges