Leondra Kruger moved into her new chambers at California’s highest court seven year ago and asked her top assistant for the reports from the U.S. Supreme Court to be placed behind her desk.
This was unusual for a state court, which does not often deal with federal law matters, but Kruger wanted the latest rulings near her, according to attorney Greg Wolff.
Wolff stated that Wolff simply wanted them to be within reach. Wolff stated, “I believe the U.S. Supreme Court was her first love.”
Kruger, an associate justice of the California Supreme Court may be able to get a seat on the nation’s highest court. Kruger, an associate justice on the California Supreme Court, may be able to get a seat on the nation’s highest court.
Coworkers and observers admire Kruger, 45. Her sharp intellect, modesty, and ability to forge consensus are all things that have been admired by her.
J. Anthony Kline, a retired judge from the California Court of Appeal, said that “She has a natural ability to convince judges who come from very different places than her.” People listen to her. She isn’t a bombastic. She is not confrontational. She isn’t very ideological. She is very analytical. She is very committed to the law.”
Kruger, who was a law clerk for the late U.S Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, in 2003-04, worked at two firms before teaching law for a year. Kruger then went on to work several years at U.S Justice Department, becoming a judge.
“I don’t know how to match those skills.” Tani Cantil – Sakauye, California Chief Justice, said that she is “remarkable”.
Kruger was born in South Pasadena as the daughter of two pediatricians. Her mother is Jamaican, and her father was Jewish. Harvard was her school, and she received an honors degree. She also wrote for The Harvard Crimson. She received her law degree at Yale. There, she was the editor-in-chief of Yale’s Law Journal.
Kruger was the top Supreme Court lawyer in the United States during the Bush and Obama administrations. He worked in the U.S. solicitor General’s office.
She was 38 when she was selected by the then-Gov. Jerry Brown was appointed to the California high court. Her appointment was criticized at the time for not having been a California judge or spent much of her time in California as a lawyer. However, no one opposed her appointment at a public hearing.
Kruger, a mother to a young boy, was the youngest justice on the court, and the second Black woman. Kruger returned to work shortly after the birth of her daughter. Cantil-Sakauye stated that she was surprised and thrilled to find Kruger in an elevator at the court’s Los Angeles location. Kruger had her baby in a stroller.
Cantil-Sakauye stated, “She didn’t miss a beat.” “I don’t recall her ever taking time off.”
Kruger is considered a moderate member of the seven-member court.
Kruger, one of the Democrat-appointed judges, wrote a 4-to-3 opinion in 2019 that stated that if a driver pulls over without presenting a license, police can’t search the vehicle for personal ID without a warrant.
Kruger wrote a 4-3 opinion in support of the three former Republican governors. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Her decision was narrow in scope. She found that the suspect, who was later convicted for arson, had been correctly convicted of a misdemeanor because he refused to give his DNA sample during his arrest.
She omitted the constitutional question because she felt it was best left for a case with other circumstances.
She wrote that she adhered to the “cardinal principle of judiciar restraint” — if it’s not necessary to make a decision more, it’s not necessary to make a decision more.
Kline, whose ruling was overturned in that case said that opinions are often viewed two ways.
He said that some people on the left view her as not sufficiently progressive. “But other people pointed out her opinion in (the matter) as proving that she was a moderate. She is an incrementalist.”
Leslie Jacobs, McGeorge School of Law professor, stated that Kruger’s rulings can seem political unpredictable in that she doesn’t always side with Democrats but she maintains her independence.
Jacobs stated, “The ideal is for them to get out of politics and do the job interpreting.”
This could be appealing to Republican senators Biden hopes will win over. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has warned against appointing anyone from the “radical left”.
Jacobs stated, “The things that I am describing are not radical.” They are precise and specific in their scope, as you can see, in many different types of decisions.
David Ettinger is an appellate lawyer who has over 40 years of experience and blogs about the California Supreme Court. Kruger was described as being conservative in her use of judicial power, but aiming for stability, consistency, and stability.
Ettinger stated that during arguments, she “asked questions to get answers, not showboat to make political statements,”
Kruger spoke at the 2020 San Francisco Bar Association panel on Stevens’ legacy. Kruger said that she often thought back to the simple advice Stevens gave his group of former clerks the year before: “Always work harder and do your best.”
She said, “For 35 years he worked as hard and as long as he could in service of the public to render impartiality and fair justice and that he always did what he could.” It is our hope that we will be as successful in this endeavor as he was.
Kline, a friend of Kruger, said that he doesn’t know how interested she would be in following Stevens’ lead. Her family is large in California. Her husband works at a San Francisco legal firm. They have two children and a home they love.
Kruger said that Kruger twice declined an offer to be nominated as solicitor general.
Kruger’s name was suggested as a potential replacement for Breyer. Kruger has a media spokesperson who is now working with Kruger. Kruger declined to be interviewed for this story, but she sat for photos on Thursday.
Wolff, who has been working with Kruger for four years, believes Kruger’s dream to be a justice on the nation’s highest courts. Kline stated that some people are curious if this is the case.
He said that attorneys push for judicial positions aggressively, which is not her style.
Kline stated, “What I know is that she’sn’t lobbying very heavily to get the job.”
