Judgeship Debate: Same Old New Process?

Legislative debate continues over how many new judgeships should be created next year. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, who’s holding the line at 25 when the governor, the state Senate, Assembly Republicans — heck, just about everybody — all want at least 50, told reporters on Wednesday that he wants the administration to appoint “more people of color and women” to the bench.

Then he offered this: “We’ve been talking to the administration about that, and I think they’re talking about changing the process by which they bring in new prospects for judgeships. So I’m encouraged by some of those changes.”

To which the governor’s office replied: What changes?

“We haven’t changed our policy in terms of judicial selections at all,” said spokeswoman Sabrina Demayo Lockhart. The governor is committed to diversifying the judiciary and talked about the issue Wednesday with the Asian Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus, Demayo Lockhart said. But, she insisted, no one’s changing the recruiting process.

We’ll see if that changes by the time a new budget is signed.

— Cheryl Miller