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4usnews:Voters on Tuesday will decide the fate of three justices for the California Supreme Court. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye as chief justice in July, and voters will determine if she should begin her tenure in January. Associate Justices Ming W. Chin and Carlos R. Moreno are seeking new terms on the court.
Here’s a look at their records:
TANI G. CANTIL-SAKAUYE
The candidate: Cantil-Sakauye, 51, is seeking confirmation to a 12-year term as chief justice.
Education: Law degree and bachelor’s, University of California, Davis.
Judicial experience: Appointed to the Sacramento Municipal Court in 1990 by Gov. George Deukmejian; elevated to Sacramento Superior Court in 1997 by Gov. Pete Wilson; appointed to the 3rd District Court of Appeal as an associate justice in 2005 by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger; and appointed to the chief justice seat on the high court in July by Schwarzenegger.
Notable opinion: Found unconstitutional a policy of Westfield Galleria at Roseville prohibiting strangers from talking to one another on subjects other than the shopping center without prior permission from the mall management.
MING W. CHIN
The candidate: Chin, 68, is seeking retention to another 12-year-term as an associate justice.
Education: Law degree and bachelor’s, University of San Francisco.
Judicial experience: Appointed to the Alameda Superior Court in 1988 by Gov. George Deukmejian; elevated to the 1st District Court of Appeal as an associate justice in 1990 by Deukmejian; appointed presiding justice of the 1st District Court of Appeal, Division Three, in 1994 by Gov. Pete Wilson; and elevated to the Supreme Court in 1996 by Wilson.
Notable opinion: Set aside an assessment by the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority to fund acquisition, improvement and maintenance of unspecified open space. Found the assessment failed to comply with the special benefit and proportionality requirements of Proposition 218, an initiative approved by voters in 1996 and designed to give taxpayers the right to approve or reject local governments’ tax increases and special assessments on property. Also found the measure requires courts to independently review a local agency’s assessments.
CARLOS R. MORENO
The candidate: Moreno, 62, is seeking retention to a 12/year term as an associate justice.
Education: Law degree, Stanford University; bachelor’s, Yale University.
Judicial experience: Appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1986 by Gov. George Deukmejian; elevated to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 1993 by Gov. Pete Wilson; appointed to the U.S.District Court for the Central District of California in 1998 by President Bill Clinton; and appointed to the California Supreme Court in 2001 by Gov. Gray Davis.
Notable opinion: Held that, under the state Labor Code, the remedy of giving an employee one additional hour of pay for failing to provide a required meal or rest period constitutes a wage and not a penalty, and thus is governed by a three-year statute of limitations that applies to wage claims, rather than the one-year limitation that applies to penalties.......
