Chronological Listing | Alphabetical Listing
CHIEF JUSTICES
Chief Justice | Years Served
S. Clinton Hastings: January 1850–January 1852
Henry A. Lyons: January 1852–March 1852
Hugh C. Murray: March 1852–September 1857
David S. Terry: October 1857–September 1859
Stephen J. Field: September 1859–May 1863
W. W. Cope: May 1863–January 1864
Silas W. Sanderson: January 1864–January 1866
John Currey: January 1866–January 1868
Lorenzo Sawyer: January 1868–January 1870
Augustus L. Rhodes: January 1870–January 1872
Royal T. Sprague: January 1872–February 1872
William T. Wallace: February 1872–November 1879
Robert F. Morrison: November 1879–March 1887
Niles Searls: April 1887–January 1889
William H. Beatty: January 1889–August 1914
Matt I. Sullivan: August 1914–January 1915
Frank M. Angellotti: January 1915–November 1921
Lucien Shaw: November 1921–January 1923
Curtis D. Wilbur: January 1923–March 1924
Louis W. Myers: March 1924–January 1926
William H. Waste: January 1926–June 1940
Phil S. Gibson: June 1940–August 1964
Roger J. Traynor: September 1964–February 1970
Donald R. Wright: April 1970–February 1977
Rose Elizabeth Bird: March 1977–January 1987
Malcolm M. Lucas: February 1987–April 1996
Ronald M. George: May 1996–January 2011
Tani Cantil-Sakauye: January 2011-December 2022
Patricia Guerrero: January 2023-Present
JUSTICES
Justice | Years Served
S. Clinton Hastings: January 1850–January 1852 *
Henry A. Lyons: December 1849–March 1852 *
Nathaniel Bennett: December 1849–October 1851
Hugh C. Murray: October 1851–September 1857 *
Solomon Heydenfeldt: January 1852–January 1857
Alexander Anderson: April 1852–January 1853
Alexander Wells: January 1853–October 1854
Charles H. Bryan: November 1854–November 1855
David S. Terry: November 1855–September 1859 *
Peter H. Burnett: January 1857–October 1858
Stephen J. Field: October 1857–May 1863 *
Joseph G. Baldwin: October 1858–January 1862
W. W. Cope: September 1859–January 1864 *
Edward Norton: November 1861–January 1864
E. B. Crocker: May 1863–January 1864
Silas W. Sanderson: January 1864–January 1870 *
John Currey: January 1864–January 1868 *
Lorenzo Sawyer: January 1864–January 1870 *
Augustus L. Rhodes: January 1864–January 1872 *
Oscar L. Shafter: January 1864–December 1867
Royal T. Sprague: January 1868–February 1872 *
Joseph B. Crockett: December 1867–January 1880
William T. Wallace: December 1869–November 1879 *
Jackson Temple: Jan 1870–Jan 1872 / Dec 1886–Jun 1889 / Jan 1895–Dec 1902
Addison C. Niles: January 1872–January 1880
Issac S. Belcher: March 1872–January 1874
E. W. McKinstry: January 1874–October 1888
Robert F. Morrison: November 1879-March 1887 *
Erskine M. Ross: January 1880–October 1886
John R. Sharpstein: January 1880–December 1892
Samuel Bell McKee: January 1880–December 1887
Milton H. Myrick: January 1880–January 1887
James D. Thornton: January 1880–January 1891
A. Van R. Paterson: January 1887–April 1894
Thomas B. McFarland: January 1887–September 1908
Niles Searls: April 1887–January 1889 *
John D. Works: October 1888–January 1891
William H. Beatty: January 1889–August 1914 *
Charles N. Fox: June 1889–January 1891
John J. DeHaven: January 1891–January 1895
Charles H. Garoutte: January 1891–January 1903
Ralph C. Harrison: January 1891–January 1903
William F. Fitzgerald: January 1893–January 1895
W. C. Van Fleet: April 1894–January 1899
Frederick W. Henshaw: January 1895–January 1918
Walter Van Dyke: January 1899–December 1905
Frank M. Angellotti: January 1903–November 1921 *
Lucien Shaw: January 1903–January 1923 *
William G. Lorigan: January 1903–January 1919
M. C. Sloss: February 1906–February 1919
Henry A. Melvin: September 1908–April 1920
Matt I. Sullivan: August 1914–January 1915 *
William P. Lawlor: January 1915–July 1926
Curtis D. Wilbur: January 1918–March 1924 *
Thomas J. Lennon: January 1919–August 1926
Warren Olney, Jr.: March 1919–July 1921
William A. Sloane: May 1920–December 1922
Charles A. Shurtleff: July 1921–December 1922
William H. Waste: November 1921–June 1940 *
Terry W. Ward: December 1922–January 1923
Frank H. Kerrigan: January 1923–February 1924
Emmet Seawell: January 1923–July 1939
Louis W. Myers: January 1923–January 1926 *
John E. Richards: February 1924–June 1932
John W. Shenk: April 1924–August 1959
Jesse W. Curtis: January 1926–January 1945
Frank G. Finlayson: October 1926–December 1926
Jeremiah F. Sullivan: November 1926–January 1927
John W. Preston: December 1926–October 1935
William H. Langdon: January 1927–August 1939
Ira F. Thompson: December 1932–August 1937
Nathaniel P. Conrey: October 1935–November 1936
Douglas L. Edmonds: November 1936–December 1955
Frederick W. Houser: September 1937–October 1942
Jesse W. Carter: September 1939–March 1959
Phil S. Gibson: September 1939–August 1964 *
Roger J. Traynor: August 1940–February 1970 *
B. Rey Schauer: December 1942–September 1964
Homer R. Spence: January 1945–June 1960
Marshall F. McComb: January 1956–May 1977
Raymond E. Peters: March 1959–January 1973
Thomas P. White: August 1959–October 1962
Maurice T. Dooling, Jr.: June 1960–June 1962
Mathew O. Tobriner: July 1962–January 1982
Paul Peek: December 1962–December 1966
Stanley Mosk: September 1964–June 2001
Louis H. Burke: November 1964–November 1974
Raymond L. Sullivan: December 1966–January 1977
Donald R. Wright: April 1970–February 1977 *
William P. Clark, Jr.: March 1973–March 1981
Frank K. Richardson: December 1974–December 1983
Wiley W. Manuel: March 1977–January 1981
Rose Elizabeth Bird: March 1977–January 1987 *
Frank C. Newman: July 1977–December 1982
Otto M. Kaus: July 1981–October 1985
Allen E. Broussard: July 1981–August 1991
Cruz Reynoso: February 1982–January 1987
Joseph R. Grodin: December 1982–January 1987
Malcolm M. Lucas: April 1984–April 1996 *
Edward A. Panelli: December 1985–January 1994
John A. Arguelles: March 1987–March 1989
David N. Eagleson: March 1987–January 1991
Marcus M. Kaufman: March 1987–January 1990
Joyce L. Kennard: April 1989–April 2014
Armand Arabian: March 1990–February 1996
Marvin R. Baxter: January 1991–Januray 2015
Ronald M. George: September 1991–2011 *
Kathryn M. Werdegar: June 1994–August 2017
Ming W. Chin: March 1996–August 2020
Janice R. Brown: May 1996–June 2005
Carlos R. Moreno: October 2001–February 2011
Carol A. Corrigan: January 2006–Present
Tani Cantil-Sakauye: January 2011–Present *
Goodwin Liu: August 2011–Present
Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar: January 2015–October 2021
Leondra R. Kruger: January 2015–Present
Joshua P. Groban: January 2019–Present
Martin J. Jenkins: December 2020–Present
Patricia Guerrero: March 2022–Present*
Kelli M. Evans: January 2023–Present
* Also served as Chief Justice of California. See Chief Justices of California listing for length of service as Chief Justice.
Photographs of Justices courtesy of Supreme Court of California
The Society wishes to thank Pepperdine University School of Law for assistance in scanning the “In Memoriams” that are included in the California Supreme Court Justices section and elsewhere on this website.
