California Supreme Court Justices


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.