Patricia Guerrero, the child of an immigrant cowboy, an environmental lawyer, a trial judge and an appellate justice, was confirmed to serve on the California Supreme Court as the first Latino Supreme Justice in the state’s 118-justice-long history.
“I am honored and deeply humbled by this opportunity. I am mindful of the solemn responsibilities and I commit to fulfilling and discharging those responsibilities, applying the values that my parents instilled in me, I promise to uphold the rule of law, and to uphold the values of this state, and our country. Thank you,” Guerrero said at the end of her confirmation hearing.
Gov. Gavin Newsom nominated her Feb. 15.
“A keen legal mind and well-regarded jurist, Justice Guerrero’s wide-ranging experience, integrity, deep respect for the rule of law and lifelong commitment to public service make her a phenomenal candidate to serve as our next California Supreme Court Justice,” Newsom said in the press release announcing the nomination.
“If confirmed, I look forward to helping instill confidence in the equality and integrity of our judicial system while honoring the sacrifices of my immigrant parents and demonstrating to young people that anything is possible in our wonderful and diverse country,” Guerrero said in the same release.
Her compensation will be $274,732 a year.
She grew up in the small farming town Imperial, in the county of the same name, where her father worked in feedlots and her mother worked as a babysitter.
Guerrero graduated from University of California, Berkeley, magna cum laude in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts in legal studies. She received her Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School in 1997.
She started in private practice, working on environmental cases in Latham & Watkins’ San Francisco office, according to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation’s recommendation.
In 2002, Guerrero served a one-year term in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Attorney as an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting drug trafficking and immigration violations, before she returned to Latham in its San Diego Office, where she made partner in 2006.
As an attorney, she finished a brief while on the way to the hospital to give birth to her son, said Robert Howard, Guerrero’s former law partner, at her confirmation hearing to the Court of Appeal.
Then-Gov. Edmund “Jerry” Brown appointed her a San Diego Superior Judge in 2013, where she handled traffic, criminal and family law cases. She was unopposed in her re-election campaign.
In 2017, Brown appointed her to the California Court of Appeal, Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One. She won her retention election 1.7 million votes to 700,000. She participated in one case on the California Supreme Court, Deborah Sass v. Theodore Cohen (S255262), regarding interpretation of monetary relief following summary judgment, in which she joined Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye’s unanimous opinion.
Appellate confirmation hearing
Guerrero chairs the State Bar’s Blue Ribbon Commission on the Future of the Bar Exam and the Judicial Council of California Advisory Committee on Criminal Jury Instructions. She participated on San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association’s Scholarship Selection Committee, and was an advisory board member for the American Bar Association’s Immigration Justice Project.
The chair of the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation praised Guerrero’s history.
“Justice Guerrero has had an exceptional career as a litigator in both the private and public sectors, with criminal, civil, trial, and appellate experience. She is universally lauded for her superior intellect, clear writing, judicial temperament, work ethic and compassion. Justice Guerrero is also praised by other bench officers for her collegiality,” Stella Ngai wrote.
Cantil-Sakauye, Attorney General Rob Bonta and Fourth Appellate District Presiding Justice Manuel Ramirez unanimously approved Guerrero’s nomination.
Guerrero takes the spot previously occupied by Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar.
