COUNTYWIDE : 11 Appellate Justices Face Confirmation

When anyone is appointed to an appellate court in California, it’s generally considered a lifetime appointment. The catch, however, is that every 12 years the voters get a chance to confirm the appointment--just in case there is anyone they want to kick off the bench.

Except in rare instances, such as the removal by voters of former Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird and two others on the state Supreme Court in 1986, that doesn’t happen.

On the Nov. 6 ballot, county voters will be asked to vote “yes” or “no” on the confirmations of 11 justices of the 4th District Court of Appeal.

“Unless a justice is a target of a specific interest group that raises money to campaign against him or her, removal for lack of confirmation just never happens,” said Justice Edward J. Wallin of the 4th District’s Division 3, which serves Orange County. “And it shouldn’t. An individual justice at our level simply doesn’t have the kind of clout that should cause anyone to waste money getting that person removed.”

The state Court of Appeal is the first step in the review of Superior Court decisions, except in capital cases, which go directly to the state Supreme Court.

The three Orange County justices on the Nov. 6 ballot are David G. Sills, Thomas F. Crosby and Henry T. Moore Jr. The other eight justices are in districts that represent Riverside, San Diego, Imperial and Inyo counties.

Crosby, 50, of Tustin was one of four justices appointed to the new Orange County division in 1982. Because the division was new, the justices had to be confirmed in the 1986 gubernatorial election.

Crosby faces confirmation again this year because the law requires that voter confirmations of justices be staggered. Through an agreement among the four on the bench, Crosby was chosen to go on the ballot this year. If confirmed in November, he won’t face voters again for another 12 years.

Moore, 57, of Newport Beach was appointed to the bench in 1988, so he is on the Nov. 6 ballot for his first 12-year confirmation.

Sills, 52, of Irvine is the new presiding justice appointed this year. He is on the ballot for the same reason.

“I’d be surprised if very many voters outside the legal community know who any of us are, especially voters in the counties which are not even in our division,” Wallin said.

The following are the eight other justices on the Nov. 6 ballot:

Division 1:

Charles W. Froehlich Jr., 62, of Escondido; Gilbert Nares, 47, of Oceanside, and Richard D. Huffman, 51, of San Diego, all appointed to the court in 1988; Patricia D. Benke, 41, of San Diego, appointed in 1987, and William L. Todd, Jr., 61, of San Diego, appointed in 1986.

Division 2:

Thomas E. Hollenhorst, 43, and Howard M. Dabney, 63, both of Riverside, and both appointed to the court in 1987, and Robert J. Timlin, 58, of Corona, appointed in 1990.