Judge Kelli Evans becomes California’s first lesbian Supreme Court Justice
On November 10, Alameda Superior Court Judge Kelli Evans was confirmed as a California Supreme Court associate justice and became the first openly lesbian justice on the court.
Evans was approved by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, consisting of Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, state Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Judge Manuel Ramirez, the senior presiding justice of the state Court of Appeal.
Cantil-Sakauye, the state panel chair, announced two days after voters approved Patricia Guerrero to become California’s first Latina Supreme Court chief justice in January.
Judge Evans will fill the associate justice seat vacated by Justice Guerrero.
How Kelli Evans was appointed to the California Supreme Court
The moves mark the last dominos to fall after Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye announced in July that she will step down in January.
That gave Gov. Gavin Newsom his third opportunity to appoint a justice to the seven-member high court.
Newsom, a Democrat who was handily reelected on November 8, first elevated Patricia Guerrero to lead the nation’s largest judicial system just months after he appointed her to the state Supreme Court.
The same day he announced he would appoint Evans to take Guerrero’s place.
The Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation rated Evans “well qualified,” a rare step lower than its top rating of “exceptionally well qualified.” The State Bar’s commission did not explain its lower ranking but still concluded that Evans “will make an outstanding Associate Justice.”
The nomination was approved by a unanimous vote.
About Kelli Evans
Instilled with the importance of education by her grandmother, Kelli Evans excelled academically and was able to attend a top-rated high school after her family moved from a public housing project to a HUD-subsidized apartment. One of only a small number of students of color at the school, she managed to thrive and graduate at the top of her class while working 20 hours a week to help support her family.
She went on to attend Stanford University and earned a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law, where she received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Award for exceptional public service.
Evans has been an Alameda County Superior Court judge just since last year. She previously was chief deputy legal affairs secretary in the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom, where she advised the Governor and executive agencies on a myriad of issues involving administrative proceedings and involving state and federal trial and appellate courts.
More than a dozen of Judge Evans’ family members, including wife Terri Shaw and daughter Kaden Evans-Shaw, filled the Supreme Court Courtroom in San Francisco to witness her confirmation as associate justice.
Evans dedicated the day to the woman who raised her.
“I believe that my grandmother would have understood, as I do, that the law it’s so much more than an esoteric ivory tower exercise. At its core, what is the law about? It’s about real people and real communities,” she said.