Justice George Sworn In as Court’s Chief

California Supreme Court Justice Ronald M. George, known for his moderation in deciding civil disputes, was confirmed Wednesday as the next chief justice of the state high court and sworn into office by Gov. Pete Wilson.

George, 56, takes over for Malcolm Lucas, a conservative who was appointed by former Gov. George Deukmejian and who retired Wednesday.

“This is a time of new and difficult challenges to the judicial branch,” George said Wednesday. “Our mission must be to maintain and foster a fair, accessible and efficient system of justice throughout the state of California.”

A state bar commission that evaluated George’s qualifications voted unanimously to give him the highest rating possible. “He enjoys the highest regard of the members of the bench in the bar,” said a state bar representative.

The affable, politically savvy George is a former state prosecutor, Los Angeles judge and Court of Appeal justice. He is regarded as a skilled, well-organized administrator who understands the value of public relations and will work to improve the court’s often strained relations with the Legislature.

He is considered friendly to prosecutors in criminal cases but more unpredictable and middle-of-the-road in civil litigation.

Wilson has appointed Court of Appeal Justice Janice Rogers Brown to fill George’s seat as associate justice. If she is confirmed, as expected, at a hearing today, the seven-member court will for the first time have a majority of Wilson appointees. Brown has been rated unqualified by the same panel that praised George.

George’s confirmation came after a hearing in which a Latino activist complained that Wilson should have named a member of their community to the court, and antiabortion protesters chided George for dissenting in a recent decision to uphold a state law requiring minors to obtain parental consent for abortions.

Two Latinos have served on the California Supreme Court in the past: former justices Cruz Reynoso and John A. Arguelles.

Mario G. Obledo, president of the California Coalition of Hispanic Organizations, called the absence of a Latino justice “tragic.”

“How can we expect one-third of the population of our state to respect and have confidence in the decisions of the state Supreme Court when they do not feel they are participants in the process?” Obledo said.

George’s confirmation hearing was the second this year to attract abortion opponents. They spoke at the January confirmation of Justice Ming W. Chin, who had told reporters he believed in the right of women to choose.

Antiabortion activist Laurette Elsberry said George’s stand on the consent ruling “shows his disdain for the sanctity of life and the sanctity of the family.”

George received lavish praise from other judges, including Justice Marvin R. Baxter, one of his colleagues on the state high court. “Gov. Wilson selected the best person available to lead California’s judiciary into the 21st century,” Baxter said.

Voting to confirm George were Justice Stanley Mosk, who was serving as acting chief justice, Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren and Sacramento state Court of Appeal Justice Robert K. Puglia.

George first gained notoriety when he presided over the Hillside Strangler trial in the early 1980s. Former Los Angeles Dist. Atty. John Van de Kamp wanted to dismiss murder charges against Angelo Buono, but George refused and the killer was convicted.

George graduated from Stanford Law School in 1964 and served as a deputy attorney general from 1965 to 1972, arguing cases before the U.S. Supreme Court on six occasions.

Former Gov. Ronald Reagan appointed him to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1972, and five years later, Gov. Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown Jr. elevated him to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Deukmejian appointed him a decade later to the Court of Appeal.

George will appear on the November 1998 ballot for voter confirmation to a 12-year term.