Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye was interviewed this weekend on NBC4’s “News Conference.” Much of the interview concerned such topics as judicial branch administration, civics education, whether she would accept an appointment to the United States Supreme Court (she wouldn’t), and the things she learned about people as a blackjack dealer during law school. But Cantil-Sakauye did talk about the Supreme Court, too.
The Chief Justice said that, if the death penalty were repealed, “it would eliminate or redirect 25 percent of our caseload.” She was asked about the court’s current diverse membership and was pressed about Governor Brown’s appointment of three justices who had no prior judicial or trial court experience. The Chief Justice praised Justice Goodwin Liu as a “fantastic colleague” and said of the court, “what we are now is we’re a pretty interesting mix” of people, some coming from “boots on the ground” backgrounds and others more from “theory.” She put herself in the former category: “I’m a boots-on-the-ground girl,” she said.