Judge Kelli Evans Confirmed to California Supreme Court

Judge Kelli Evans became the newest California Supreme Court associate justice after the Commission on Judicial Appointments voted Thursday to unanimously approve the elevation.

Evans, whose mix of public and private experience was touted when Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) named her, will take the bench in January. Evans currently serves in the Alameda County Superior Court.

Presiding Justice Manuel Ramirez said that based on Evans’ background and experience, he was confident she would bring her own sense of collegiality to the California Supreme Court for the benefit of everyone. “The court benefits. The administration of justice benefits, but I suppose perhaps more importantly the public benefits when it sees a well-functioning court,” said Ramirez, who serves in the California Court of Appeals.

The commission consists of Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Attorney General Rob Bonta, and Ramirez.

Cantil-Sakauye last summer announced she wouldn’t be running for a second 12-year term and in September was named to lead the nonprofit research entity Public Policy Institute of California. Newsom named Patricia Guererro as chief justice, whose appointment as the first Latina to lead the court was confirmed in August.

Evans said the court “has been, is, and continues to be a beacon, and I promise to all of you I will do my best to administer justice fairly to the people of this state, and with the mind towards justice for everyone and making sure that the court’s promise of justice is administered equally and fairly to everyone.”

The Stanford and University of California, Davis law graduate is a former public defender and ACLU of Northern California staff attorney, the attorney general’s reportsaid. Evans worked as a US Department of Justice senior trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division in Washington, D.C., before becoming an associate at Relmen & Associates, where she represented clients in civil rights litigation.

Evans was a member of the Cleveland Police Monitoring Team and served as a federal court monitor overseeing that the Oakland, Calif., police department complied with a consent decree that required civil rights reforms. She worked in the California Attorney General’s office, State Bar of California, and was Newsom’s chief deputy legal affairs secretary before taking the California Superior Court, Alameda County, bench in October 2021.

Newsom made Evans his third high court appointment. Justices Martin J. Jenkins and Guerrero were Newsom’s first and second appointments, respectively. Evans is the second openly gay justice on the court after Jenkins’ confirmation.