Remaking the Supreme Court: Ethnics, Women Want In

Filling the new vacancies on the state Supreme Court has proved no easy task--and it may be February or later before the three new justices to be named by Gov. George Deukmejian take their seats on the bench.

The time-consuming process has allowed speculation to grow over the governor’s likely nominees--and, in one instance, for ethnic group leaders to unite behind a single candidate.

Asian leaders are urging the selection of Appellate Justice Harry W. Low of San Francisco. Latino attorneys believe that Appellate Justice John A. Arguelles is the leading candidate from their community. And women lawyers and other observers are suggesting that U.S. District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler is a top contender for a post on the court.

Deukmejian, a sharp critic of the liberal-dominated court, is conducting an exacting search for three experienced, well-regarded judicial conservatives--judges who would have “an overriding concern for public safety.”

At this point, the governor and his aides have considered dozens of potential candidates to fill the seats that will be left open Jan. 5 after voter rejection Nov. 4 of Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird and Justices Cruz Reynoso and Joseph R. Grodin.

Names Expected This Month

Deukmejian is expected to reveal the names of three or probably more of his potential nominees sometime this month, aides said. After that, the California State Bar commission that evaluates such candidates has up to 90 days to report its findings to the governor.

And then, after the three nominations are formally made, another month would likely ensue before the candidates could be confirmed by the state Judicial Appointments Commission and then be sworn into office.

A spokesman for the governor acknowledged that the process is taking considerable time, but added: “The governor is deliberative by nature, and he recognizes that these selections, if not the most important, are obviously close to the most important decisions he can make.”

Deukmejian has been under some pressure to appoint a woman and a member of a racial minority to succeed Bird, the court’s first female member, and Reynoso, its first Latino. The governor opposed Bird, Reynoso and Grodin, who are members of the court’s dominant liberal wing. Justice Allen E. Broussard, the court’s only black member, was not on the ballot.

Spokesmen for the state’s Asian community are urging the governor to appoint a member of that group to the high court for the first time--and have closed ranks behind Low, a well-known Chinese-American jurist with 20 years on the trial and appeal court bench.

Secretary of State March Fong Eu wrote a letter to the governor backing Low’s appointment, and other leaders have spoken to the governor’s aides in the justice’s behalf.

Community ‘Very Unified’

“Normally we are very divided on these kind of issues, but in this case our community is very unified,” said Ben Yee of San Francisco, chairman of the Contractors’ State License Board and adviser to the governor on Chinese-American affairs.

Other potential Asian-American candidates include state Appellate Justices Elwood Lui of Los Angeles, current president of the California Judges Assn., and Morio L. Fukuto, a former Los Angeles Superior Court judge recently elevated by Deukmejian to the appeal court in San Bernardino.

In the Latino legal community, Arguelles remains a leading possibility for nomination. Arguelles was among six candidates Deukmejian considered last year to succeed former state Supreme Court Justice Otto M. Kaus for a post the governor ultimately filled with Justice Edward A. Panelli.

“If the governor makes an appointment from the Hispanic community, Justice Arguelles seems the most likely candidate, given the governor’s political philosophy,” said Herman Sillas, a Los Angeles lawyer and former U.S. attorney in Sacramento. “Compared to Justice Reynoso, he probably has a more conservative outlook on most issues.”

Sillas and other Latino lawyers stress the value of the court reflecting the state’s diversified ethnic makeup.

“Maintaining ethnic balance on the court helps legitimize the entire system,” said Armando Duron, president of the Mexican-American Bar Assn. of Los Angeles. “When people of a group feel that they are not part of that system, they are not as likely to respond to its laws.”

Another possibility, according to legal observers, is Judge Arthur L. Alarcon of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, but Alarcon reportedly has turned down such opportunities in the past. Other Latino jurists who might be considered include U.S. District Judges Edward J. Garcia of Sacramento and Ferdinand F. Fernandez of Los Angeles.

Federal Judge Bows Out

The governor’s search for a female nominee suffered a setback earlier this month when U.S. District Judge Pamela A. Rymer of Los Angeles withdrew her name from consideration. Rymer cited her commitment to the federal bench, saying she loved her current job.

With lifetime appointments, the prestige of the office and other attractive considerations, federal judges are generally reluctant to leave their positions for state or local posts. State Supreme Court Justice Malcolm M. Lucas, the governor’s former law partner, took the unusual step of leaving the federal district bench to join the state court in 1984--but since has become Deukmejian’s choice for chief justice and thus become leader of what has been one of the most prominent state courts in the country.

Nonetheless, with Rymer out of the picture, considerable attention is being focused on Stotler, a former Orange County prosecutor and Superior Court judge who was named to the federal bench in 1984 by President Reagan.

“She would be one of the top candidates,” said Patricia Shiu of San Francisco, president of the California Women Lawyers Assn.

Known as a conservative and tough sentencer, Stotler gets high marks from a wide range of judges and lawyers. “She has a terrific reputation,” said one liberal jurist. “From all appearances, she is just the kind of no-nonsense, follow-the-law judge that the governor and conservatives are looking for.”

Rymer was the only woman on the list of six candidates for the court the governor issued last year. That may be an indication that he sees a relative lack of female candidates on the state bench. As yet, he has not appointed any women to the state Court of Appeal.

Shiu, noting that there are about 17,000 women lawyers in the state, contended that there is a wide range of female candidates from which to choose. In consultation with the governor’s staff, she observed, the association has urged that Deukmejian select a nominee “who is moderate--not result-oriented and not doctrinaire--and who is respected by bench.”

‘Two Would Be Fabulous’

“I would hope that the governor names at least one woman,” Shiu said. “Two would be fabulous.”

Similarly, Los Angeles Municipal Judge Candace D. Cooper, head of the judicial division of California Assn. of Black Lawyers, also urges diversity on the high court bench.

“There are clearly minority and women candidates who would share the governor’s concern for the rights of victims and adherence to the rule of law,” Cooper said.

Some minority group leaders, however, express concern that their candidates may not appear sufficiently pro-law enforcement to please the governor.

“What I worry about is whether Justice Harry Low could pass the political litmus test of the Deukmejian Administration,” said Henry Der, director of Chinese for Affirmative Action, a San Francisco group supporting Low for the high court.

Low, a former Municipal and Superior Court judge, was elevated to the Court of Appeal by Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. in 1982. Asian leaders hope the political advantage of naming a Chinese-American to the court would outweigh any concern that Deukmejian might have about Low’s judicial philosophy. While Low is viewed as a moderate liberal, his supporters maintain that he knows how to balance compassion with firmness.

“Harry’s been fair to both sides and tough when he needed to be,” Der said.

Meanwhile, a number of other state appellate justices are seen by observers as likely under consideration.

Appellate Justices James B. Scott of San Francisco, Marcus M. Kaufman of San Bernardino and Hollis G. Best of San Francisco were included in the list Deukmejian compiled last year.

Among others often mentioned as possible candidates are Appellate Justices Carl West Anderson of San Francisco, David N. Eagleson of Los Angeles and Daniel Kremer of San Diego.

Moderation Stressed

The governor has indicated that he places great importance on moderation and experience in selecting nominees to the bench. He repeatedly has stressed his desire to restore what he sees as the lost prestige and stature of the state Supreme Court and pledged to find the best-qualified candidates he can--including women and minorities.

As he announced Rymer’s withdrawal, he said he will continue the search for individuals “who are exceptionally qualified, respected by their peers in the legal profession and who have an overriding concern for public safety.”

Court critics, including the governor, charged during the campaign that the justices, who now have affirmed only three of 62 death sentences reviewed since capital punishment was restored in 1978, were failing to carry out the law.

A spokesman for the governor said Deukmejian has not yet decided how many names to send to the California State Bar commission and that disclosure of such a list is “not imminent.”

Deputy Press Secretary Kevin Brett acknowledged that it may be next spring before the governor’s choices are sworn into office. He pointed out that Deukmejian, a lawyer by profession and a former legislator and state attorney general, is deeply interested in the legal process and thus willing to expend much of his own time in the selection of nominees to the courts.

“The process is going to take all the time it requires to assure that the most qualified people are finally chosen for the jobs,” Brett said.