Man, that took long enough. Goodwin Liu is finally a judge. Last week in San Francisco, a three-member state commission unanimously approved the UC Berkeley law professor's nomination to the California State Supreme Court: Goodwin Liu confirmed to California Supreme Court.It's been one hell of a long road getting here. Earlier this year, after much drama and debate that lasted more than two years, Senate Republicans successfully blocked Liu's nomination to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That sucked. This time around, the process went a lot smoother:
In sharp contrast to the fierce opposition to his 9th Circuit nomination, Liu breezed through his confirmation hearing for the Supreme Court post, heartily backed by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Attorney General Kamala Harris and Joan Dempsey-Klein, the state's senior appeals court justice. In fact, while 10 witnesses testified in favor of Liu's confirmation, none opposed him, an easy day for Gov. Jerry Brown's first judge pick in his new administration and first to the state Supreme Court since his first term as governor decades ago.With Liu's confirmation, California's seven-member Supreme Court now boasts a majority of Asian American justices for the first time in history. He was sworn in on Thursday. More here: Goodwin Liu confirmed to Calif. Supreme Court.