Profile: Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye

Profile: Tani Gorre Cantil-Sakauye

Born: Oct. 19, 1959

Residence: Sacramento

Education: C.K. McClatchy High School, Sacramento, 1977; Sacramento City College, 1978; UC Davis, bachelor’s degree with honors in rhetoric, 1980; UC Davis Martin Luther King Jr. School of Law, law degree, 1984

Career highlights: Assistant legal counsel and then deputy legislative secretary to Gov. George Deukmejian, 1988/89; appointed to Sacramento County Municipal Court by Deukmejian, 1990; elevated to Sacramento County Superior Court by Gov. Pete Wilson, 1997; nominated to Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, 2005; presided over Sacramento County’s first domestic violence court; member of the Judicial Council; president of the Anthony M. Kennedy American Inn of Court, dedicated to promoting civility, ethics and professionalism in the law.

Interests: Co-led a Brownie and junior Girl Scout Troop; church bazaar volunteer.

Family: married to Sacramento Police Lt. Mark Sakauye; two daughters, Hana and Clare.

Quote: “In the beginning I think people perceived my politeness as a weakness,” she told the Sacramento Bee in 2005. “It’s not — it’s a threshold for entering into robust debate.”

— Compiled by Times staff writer Lee Romney