January Confirmation Hearings Slated for Court of Appeal Nominees

Thursday, December 26, 2002

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January Confirmation Hearings Slated for Court of Appeal Nominees

By a MetNews Staff Writer

Confirmation hearings have been slated for three judges nominated by Gov. Gray Davis to the Fourth District Court of Appeal, and for the governor’s nominee for presiding justice of the Sixth District Court of Appeal.

The Administrative Office of the Courts said the hearing for U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia G. Aaron will take place on Jan. 10 at 2 p.m. in the Court of Appeal courtroom in the judge’s hometown of San Diego. The courtroom is located at 750 B Street, Suite 300.

Immediately following the hearing on Aaron, the Commission on Judicial Appointments will consider the governor’s other nominees, San Bernardino Superior Court Judge Jeffrey King and Orange Superior Court Judge Raymond J. Ikola. Aaron and King would fill newly created seats in Divs. One and Two respectively, while Ikola was nominated for the Div. Three seat left vacant last year by the retirement of Justice Thomas Crosby.

The members of the commission who will consider the appointments are Chief Justice Ronald M. George; Attorney General Bill Lockyer; and Presiding Justice Daniel J. Kremer, senior presiding justice of the Fourth Appellate District.

Also, a Jan. 21 hearing has been scheduled for Sixth District Justice Conrad Rushing, who was nominated to become presiding justice of that court. The hearing will be held at 2 p.m. in the California Supreme Court Courtroom on the fourth floor of 350 McAllister Street, San Francisco, before George, Lockyer, and Acting Presiding Justice Eugene Premo, who has been designated by the chief justice to serve as acting presiding justice on the day of the hearing.

All communications to the commission by persons who wish to comment on the appointment, and requests to speak at the hearing—which must include a summary of the facts on which the testimony will be based—must be submitted in advance.

Comments and requests to speak on the Fourth District nominees should be received by 5 p.m. Jan. 3, the AOC said, while those wishing to comment on the Rushing nomination or to speak at the hearing should make their views known by Jan. 13.

Comments should be addressed to Commission on Judicial Appointments, c/o Chief Justice of California, Supreme Court of California, 350 McAllister Street, San Francisco, California 94102, Attention: Ms. Gale Tunnell, Secretary to the Commission.