UC Davis Law to Celebrate Career of California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye '84
The Chief Justice of California, Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye, will visit UC Davis School of Law on Monday, Nov. 21 for an event celebrating her time on the bench. After 12 years as the leader of the state's Supreme Court, Cantil-Sakauye will retire.
The law school is honored to welcome back the chief justice, a member of the UC Davis School of Law class of 1984. She has emerged as one of the country’s leading advocates for equal access to justice, transparency, and the independence of the judiciary.
The event will feature a conversation with Cantil-Sakauye moderated by UC Davis Law Dean Kevin R. Johnson, with a reception to follow. The discussion will focus on her remarkable career with the judiciary as well as her future plans. In January 2023, Cantil-Sakauye will become president and CEO of the Public Policy Institute of California, the influential nonpartisan think tank.
When Cantil-Sakauye was sworn into office in January 2011 as the 28th chief justice of California, she became the first person of color and second woman to assume the role. Before her elevation to the Supreme Court, Cantil-Sakauye served for more than 20 years on California appellate and trial courts.
In recent years, Cantil-Sakauye has raised awareness about the unfair financial impact of fines, fees and the bail system on the poor. During a time of changing immigration policies, the chief justice wrote an open letter to the Trump administration expressing her opposition to immigration enforcement agents apprehending individuals appearing for court dates. She said arrests at courthouses undermine trust in the community.
The chief justice is a leader in revitalizing civic learning in the state through her Power of Democracy initiative. She, along with other state leaders, fulfilled one of the initiative’s goals in July 2016 when the state Board of Education unanimously approved an instructional framework that encourages civic learning.
The chief justice also has convened leaders to address issues of implicit bias, human trafficking, and truancy as part of a national movement to keep children in school and out of the criminal justice system.
Since receiving both her undergraduate and J.D. degrees from UC Davis, Cantil-Sakauye has been a longtime supporter of the law school and campus. Her sister and daughter are graduates of UC Davis, and her niece is a 2018 graduate of the School of Law. In 2011 and 2018, she delivered the commencement address for the law school.