Courthouses to be Named for King Hall Legends Reynoso, Cantil-Sakauye

California’s Judicial Council voted on Tuesday to name courthouses after two trailblazing jurists – the retired Chief Justice of California, Tani G. Cantil- Sakauye ’84, and the late state Supreme Court Justice and UC Davis Law Professor Cruz Reynoso.

Cantil-Sakauye’s name will adorn the new downtown Sacramento courthouse. The first Filipina American to serve as the state’s chief justice, Cantil-Sakauye grew up in Sacramento and attended McClatchy High School and UC Davis as an undergraduate before entering law school. In January 2023, Cantil-Sakauye concluded a stellar judicial career that culminated in her 12-year tenure as chief justice. She now serves as president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California.

The Court of Appeal in Santa Ana will be renamed for Reynoso, who died at age 90 in 2021. Born into a farmer-worker family, Reynoso spent a lifetime fighting the injustices he first encountered as a child in then-rural Orange County. In 1976, Reynoso became Third District Court of Appeal justice, and in 1982, the first Latino justice on the California Supreme Court.

Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the UC Davis Medal, Reynoso was a UC Davis Law professor from 2001-06 and remained devoted to the law school and the University of California for the rest of his life.

Read the press release on the council’s decision to honor Cantil-Sakauye and Reynoso.