Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye '84 Talks to N.Y. Times About Impending Retirement

The Chief Justice of California, Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye ’84, spoke to the New York Times’ Soumya Karlamangla on Aug. 2 about Cantil-Sakauye’s decision to retire after 12 years as the leader of the state's Supreme Court.

“I look back with warmth and pride that the Supreme Court in the last 12 years has brought on five new justices — five people who were basically strangers to each other,” Canti-Sakauye told Karlamangla in response to a question about what she is most proud of from her tenure. “And we’ve come together. We have trust and collegiality and we try out ideas on each other. And we evolve together, we learn — I learn from my colleagues. So I’m proud that we have been able to maintain that civility and trust over the decades.”

Cantil-Sakauye, the first Filipina American and second female chief justice, announced in late July that she would not seek re-election and would retire in January 2023 at the end of her term. Gov. Gavin Newsom has nominated Supreme Court Associate Justice Patricia Guerrero – the first Latina on the high court -- as the next chief justice. Newsom announced his intention to appoint Alameda Superior Court Judge Kelli Evans, a UC Davis Law alumna from the Class of 1994, to fill Guerrero's position.

Appointed to the state Supreme Court by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2010, Cantil-Sakauye previously served on Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District and the Sacramento Superior and Municipal courts.

Born in Sacramento, Cantil-Sakauye received her undergraduate and law degrees from UC Davis. A longtime supporter of the law school and campus, Cantil-Sakauye was the keynote speaker at UC Davis Law’s 2011 and 2018 commencements. In 2016, Cantil-Sakauye received the law school’s Distinguished Alumna Award.