Justice Werdegar By The Numbers (Part 1 In A Series)

Early last month, Justice Kathryn M. Werdegar announced that she will retire from the California Supreme Court, effective August 31, 2017. Justice Werdegar's retirement caps a distinguished twenty-three year career on the Supreme Court. Prior to her elevation to the Supreme Court, Justice Werdegar served as as Associate Justice on the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, Division Three.

With Justice Werdegar's upcoming retirement, Governor Jerry Brown will have an opportunity to nominate his fourth member of the Court, turning a four-to-three majority of Republican nominees into a four-to-three Democratic majority. We begin our analysis of how Justice Werdegar's retirement might affect the Court with a retrospective of Justice Werdegar's career.