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It’s one of the most diverse, consequential — and unrecognizable — branches of California government.

Name one member of the California Supreme Court.

Thought so.

Yet the names of four justices on California’s highest court are appearing on the November ballot, mixed in with more glossy, high-profile candidates.

In the past three decades, the court has gone from being a lightning rod of controversy to a steady, collegial body shaping California law. Today, the state’s highest court — unlike the U.S. Supreme Court — rarely renders opinions that polarize the public, making their appearance on the ballot an afterthought for many California voters.

“I suspect the average voter these days doesn’t think about the California Supreme Court, and they don’t need to,” said David A. Carrillo, executive director of Berkeley Law’s California Constitution Center.

It hasn’t always been that way. In the mid-1980s, outraged voters ousted Chief Justice Rose Bird over her persistent votes to overturn death penalty cases. Two other associate justices were also voted off the seven-member court.

“Since then,” said Carrillo, “the court has returned to its usual calm way of doing the people’s business.”

This November, Associate Justice Patricia Guerrero is asking voters to select her as chief justice. Associate Justices Joshua P. Groban, Martin L. Jenkins and Goodwin Liu also are on the ballot seeking to remain on the panel.

In California, appellate and Supreme Court justices are selected through a gubernatorial appointment, confirmation and voter approval process. Superior Court or local judges can either be appointed or directly elected to the bench by voters.

Superior Court judges serve six-year terms. Appellate and Supreme Court justices are elected for 12-year terms.

If a majority of voters say “yes” on a justice, they get a 12-year term. If a majority say “no” on any of the justices, the governor must nominate a replacement. If confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, the justice would serve until their retention election.

While most cases are heard and decided at the local level, the Supreme Court answers tough legal questions facing Californians.

“By its very place in the judicial hierarchy, (the Supreme Court) is being asked to answer the hard questions or find solutions to the really hard issues,” said Beth Jay, former principal attorney to three chief justices between 1987 and 2015.

Under the leadership of retiring Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye, who was nominated in 2010 by former Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the highest court has become increasingly more in sync.

Since 2011, 85% of the court’s decisions have been unanimous, according to data from the California Constitution Center. Before her tenure, 74% of the court’s cases were unanimous under former Chief Justice Ronald M. George from 1996 to 2011. George was appointed by Republican Gov. Pete Wilson.

Today’s justices are consistently siding with each other, even as the state Supreme Court has become the most diverse court in the country, according to the Brennan Center for Justice, a nonprofit law and policy institute.

The current bench includes an Asian justice, one Asian-Filipina justice, two Black justices, one Latina justice and two white justices. Four of the seven are women.

In just a few years, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Supreme Court appointments and nominations press releases have touted a series of firsts:

• “California’s first Latina Supreme Court Justice.”
• “First openly gay California Supreme Court Justice.”
• “First Latina to serve as California’s Chief Justice.”

While some may think the court’s ability to agree begins and ends with who appointed them, Cantil-Sakauye says it has more to do with how the court operates. She attributes the court’s high unanimity rate to the justices’ way of preparing for cases before they hear oral arguments.

“That is key to how we are … collegial and … have an opportunity to write an opinion that most people can agree on,” she said.

Unlike the U.S. Supreme Court, Cantil-Sakauye said, she assigns cases to individual justices as soon as the court grants a review. The court doesn’t wait until after hearing oral arguments to begin evaluating the case. By the time litigants argue their case, she said, she “tentatively knows” the justices’ concerns.

“We have time to work with each other and explore others’ positions,” she said.

The justices, however, have not always agreed.

One 2018 opinion split the court, 4-3, along ideological lines. The highly-watched case centered around California’s requirement that DNA samples be collected during felony arrests. The majority, which included more conservative justices, let the law stand in a win for prosecutors.

The more left-leaning justices sided with civil libertarians, who contended the law violated the state’s privacy laws.

Even so, the news coverage and intense arguments in the DNA case paled against the furor that surrounded former Chief Justice Rose Bird and her court.

Bird, the first woman on the Supreme Court and the first female chief justice, was appointed by former Gov. Jerry Brown during his first stint as governor. Bird opposed the death penalty, which emboldened some political factions to lead a campaign against her retention.

By 1986, under Republican Gov. George Deukmejian, voters elected not to retain Bird and associate justices Joseph Grodin and Cruz Reynoso, who also had been appointed by Brown. The turnover created a pathway for Deukmejian to appoint three new justices to the court, suddenly remaking the state’s highest court.

“The institution picked itself up, dusted itself off, and kept doing the work,” said attorney Jay, who worked for the court at the time.

“The strength of institutions like the court, if it’s functioning properly, is that (the court) can continue to function even when it’s getting some pretty bad body blows.”

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CalMatters.org is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media venture explaining California policies and politics.

On just the third day of jury trial, prosecutors rested their case yesterday against an alleged Norteños gang member who confessed he was hired to murder a McKinleyville man the gang suspected of stealing from them.

Soria.

Crescent City resident Isreal Soria Jr. is accused of the June 2021 attempted murder of Dylan Eubanks, who survived with a bullet wound to his arm after a gunman fired 11 shots into his home on Chapparal Drive.

In earlier testimony, jurors heard a tape recording of Soria’s confession, which included his admission to being a hired hitman who was paid an initial $7,500, with $25,000 due if he succeeded in murdering Eubanks. Eubanks did not testify during the trial.

On Monday the jury heard testimony from one of Eubanks’s former roommates, along with the accounts of some neighbors who heard gunfire, cries for help and then sirens.

The former roommate lived in the house with her boyfriend Tanner and Eubanks. She said she was lying in bed late at night when Eubanks, sounding stressed and worried, told her he thought someone was trying to get into the house.

The witness testified via Zoom because she is recovering from surgery. Under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Trent Timm, she said that shortly after Eubanks spoke with her, she heard gunfire and crouched on the floor.

The next sound was Eubanks “screaming in pain, calling for help.”

“Me and Tanner went outside and found Dylan,” she said. “He was lying on the ground, shot … I remember holding his arm, keeping it elevated, because he was bleeding so bad.”

Then the first officer arrived, and she spent the rest of the night sitting outside as officers cleared the scene and searched the house.

At one point, she said, Eubanks was asking for his phone. She got permission to go into the house and grab the phone from the kitchen counter.

“There was broken glass on the floor, holes in the walls,” she recalled. One window pane was shattered.

On the crime scene log noting everyone who entered or exited the house, there is no mention of the roommate.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Christina DiEdoardo, the roommate said she was unaware officers found 2 pounds of marijuana in a hallway closet and 200 pounds — in four 50-pound bricks — in the garage.

‘’Two-hundred?!” she said, sounding shocked. “No.”

Law enforcement believes the alleged shooter stopped after firing 11 rounds because the gun jammed, likely because too many cartridges had been stuffed into the magazine.

Sheriff’s Deputy Johnathan Gomez testified he found 11 spent cartridges in an approximately 2 to 3-foot diameter area near the broken window. The right window pane was shattered, the left pane intact except for one distinct bullet hole about 4 feet off the ground.

When officers first arrived, Eubanks was in the process of climbing a fence outside. But it’s believed the shooter also climbed a fence as he was attempting to flee. He was arrested in a back yard in the neighborhood.

One neighbor called 911 to say she heard someone climbing her back fence, then pounding on her sliding glass door.

Another neighbor, Marissa Manson, said she heard gunfire and then “panicky” calls for help. She came outside to see a man crouched over and yelling.

“It looked like he was bleeding from his arm,” Manson said.

During Soria’s confession, he said he began firing at Eubanks after seeing him holding an assault rifle.

Soria is out of custody, which is highly unusual for a defendant facing a possible life term in prison. He posted $750,000 bail after his arrest and was able to hire DiEdoardo, who practices in the Bay Area.

DiEdoardo declined comment outside court. She is expected to present her case on Wednesday morning and could put Soria on the witness stand.

Timm and Deputy District Attorney Luke Bernthal are the trial prosecutors, with Judge Christopher Wilson presiding.

PREVIOUSLY:

• Crescent City Man Arrested for Attempted Murder After McKinleyville Shooting; Victim Expected to Survive

Margaret Kaye Aiton (McCann) passed peacefully on October 15, 2022 at the St. Helena Hospital in St. Helena, California. Margaret was born in Everett, Washington on January 27, 1942 to Chester (Chet) and Esther (Carlson) McCann. Margaret grew up in Arcata with her three siblings, Freddy (Fred) McCann, Charles McCann and Marianne (McCann) Schmidt. She married Reid Aiton on January 13, 1961 in Arcata. She resided in Snow Camp (Korbel) for the last 35 years.

Margaret loved her family and the many extra children that floated in and out of their home. She also loved sewing, quilting, and gardening. She loved building her rock gardens as much as the dogs loved her digging around in her gardens, and they were so helpful to her. She had many quilts started, most of which were hand-sewn rather than machine-sewn. Margaret also adored her chickens and her onery cats. Margaret’s other favorite pastime was painting — not paintings, but the décor of the house. One never knew what color the inside or outside of the house or your bedroom was going to be when they came home if she had stopped by a paint store. She loved color and the brighter the better.

Margaret is preceded in death by her mother Esther, father Chet, brother Fred and nephew Peter Schmidt.

Margaret is survived by her husband Reid, siblings Charles and wife Janice, Marianne Schmidt and husband Mike, her children Reid Jr., Dianne Holba and husband Kevin, Rodney, Russell and wife Michelle, 11 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren, several nieces and nephews, and cousins.

Graveside service will be held on October 26, 2022, at 11 a.m. Ocean View Cemetery, 3975 Broadway Street, Eureka. A Celebration of Life will be held at Arcata Veteran’s Hall, 1425 J St., Arcata, immediately following the service.

All are welcome.

Flowers should be sent to Sanders Funeral Home, 1835 E Street, Eureka, CA 95501.

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The obituary above was submitted on behalf of Margaret Aiton’s loved ones. The Lost Coast Outpost runs obituaries of Humboldt County residents at no charge. See guidelines here. Email news@lostcoastoutpost.com.

PREVIOUSLY: Going Down, Oct. 24, 2022

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Eureka Police Department release: 

On October 24, 2022, at approximately 5:51 p.m., Officers with the Eureka Police Department were dispatched to the 3300 block of Broadway on the report of two persons trespassing on the property. Responding officers were advised that one of the subjects had a felony warrant for his arrest.

Upon officer arrival, the felony warrant suspect was taken into custody after a short foot pursuit. The second suspect, who officers learned also had a warrant for his arrest, had fled the scene but was located near the 1300 block of Bayshore Way. The suspect fled again on foot into the greenbelt and an officer pursued. As the officer entered the greenbelt he was attacked by a dog that was off leash. The officer fired three shots from his duty pistol in self-defense, striking and killing the dog. The officer was not injured in the incident.

There were no civilians injured during this incident and there is no ongoing threat to the community. The second suspect was not apprehended. The Eureka Police Department is conducting an internal review into the on-duty discharge of a firearm.

Embattled Arcata City Councilmember Brett Watson was arrested shortly after 1 p.m. Monday for violating the terms of a restraining order against him.

Arcata Police Chief Brian Ahearn tells the Outpost that he was arrested around 1:30 for having communication with one of the people protected by the order. He declined to give any further details.

Reached by phone, Watson said he was arrested at his home and booked into the Humboldt County Correctional facility and released after a couple of hours on $25,000 bail.

Watson said the prohibited communication consisted of cc’ing Mayor Stacy Atkins-Salazar when he was replying to a constituent.

“On Saturday a constituent emailed me and asked for an update on the hotels in Valley West that are being converted into housing for low-income and homeless people,” he said. In his emailed reply, Watson recommended that the constituent contact the city manager, “and I [wrote], ‘I’m also cc’ing Mayor Stacy Atkins-Salazar on this email so she’s in the loop,’” he added.

“It didn’t cross my mind” that this was a violation of the restraining order, Watson said. “I’m, like, just doing my job as a city council member. I was more focused on [staying] 100 yards away and not going to city hall.”

A Humboldt County Superior Court judge granted the restraining order last week. It restricts Watson’s access to City Hall and prohibits him from contacting or being within 100 yards of four city officials, their workplaces and vehicles, with the exception of Arcata City Council meetings.

“It is such an overreaction,” Watson said. “So not necessary. They could have just let me know.” 

Watson’s arrest was first reported by KMUD News. His court hearing has been set for December 5, Watson said.

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A month after unanimously censuring former Humboldt County Planning Commission Chair Alan Bongio for making racist and derogatory remarks at an August 18 hearing, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will consider changing some things about the commission, including reducing its size and possibly altering the way commissioners are appointed and removed.

The board is also set to adopt a new set of rules governing the commission, one that includes a “Code of Conduct and Ethics.” Among other things, this code says planning commissioners’ behavior must be “above reproach” and avoid “even the appearance of impropriety.”

The commission is currently composed of seven members, including one appointee from each of the five county supervisors plus two at-large members, whose appointments must be approved by a board majority.

That’s unusual, turns out! Staff in the County Administrative Office recently surveyed 21 other counties and found that only two of them have seven-member planning commissions. One has a whopping nine-member commission, but the rest all have just five.

Why does ours have seven? Who knows?

“It is not clear why 7 commissioners were chosen as the appropriate number to serve on the Planning Commission,” a staff report admits. “It may have been to ensure there were sufficient members available to provide a quorum. Based on the information from other counties, this does not seem to be an issue for counties with 5 commissioners.”

Staff recommends that the board reduce the number of commissioners to five, which would eliminate the positions currently held by Melanie McCavour and Brian Mitchell.

While Bongio’s behavior has drawn the most attention, the Wiyot Tribe filed a complaint last month alleging, among other things, that McCavour has a conflict of interest because in addition to serving on the commission she works as the tribal historic preservation officer for the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria.

While McCavour has recused herself on matters that require her professional opinion, the Wiyot Tribe argues that her dual roles nonetheless give her “special privileges” in conversing with the rest of the Planning Commission. 

Eliminating her position from the commission entirely would obviously settle that particular dispute, but it would still leave the matter of Bongio, who was appointed to the commission nearly a decade ago by First District Supervisor Rex Bohn. At the meeting where Bongio was censured, Bohn made it clear that he had no intention of replacing him.

“I just can’t bring myself to it,” Bohn said, later adding, “I can’t fire my friend.” The board did ask Bongio to step down from his chair position, and he complied.

But tomorrow the board may also opt to change the procedure for removing a commissioner. The staff report says planning commissioners shouldn’t have to worry about being removed arbitrarily, “but if a Planning Commissioner acts in a way that is offensive and unbecoming to the county, then there should be a way to address that by the Board of Supervisors.” Presumably they mean something beyond a censure, which serves as a formal rebuke but carries no further repercussions.

Half of the 22 counties surveyed by staff (that’s including Humboldt County) allow for removal of a planning commissioner through a majority vote of the board of supervisors. Two counties leave it to district supervisors to initiate removal. Humboldt is one of them.

Curiously, in seven of the 22 surveyed counties “there are not clear provisions” for removing a commissioner. If you’re keeping track, that leaves two counties unaccounted for. In them, the staff report says, it takes a four-fifths vote from the board to boot a commissioner.

County staff thinks that may well be the best approach. 

“A simple majority vote to remove a Planning Commissioner could be too low of a threshold,” the staff report says, “but the requirement for a 4/5ths vote would provide the opportunity to consider the matter and ensure that the Board is aligned in taking action to remove a commissioner.”

As for the code of conduct, it runs just over 15 pages and includes a number of provisions that have relevance to Bongio’s recent controversy, including one governing conflicts of interest. 

Bongio’s impartiality has been called into question for his behavior during a series of hearings related to permit violations on a home-building project from local business owner and developer Travis Schneider. Bongio has consistently and fervently advocated on Schneider’s behalf during these hearings, claiming, for example, that the applicant has done everything that’s been asked of him despite ample evidence to the contrary. Bongio’s wife is also related to Schneider through marriage. And the North Coast Journal‘s Thadeus Greenson reported that Bongio performed concrete work at the construction site and failed to disclose it.

The code of conduct slated for adoption states:

No Commissioner shall engage in any business, transaction or activity, or have a financial interest, which is in conflict with the proper discharge of official duties, which would tend to impair independence of judgment or action in the performance of official duties, which creates the appearance of such conflict, or which otherwise violates applicable County policies or state or federal law.

The main source of controversy for Bongio has surrounded his comments about local tribes. To recount, he accused two Wiyot-area tribes of being dishonest and manipulative, made a veiled reference to a derogatory term that’s rooted in a negative stereotype and repeatedly referred to those tribes collectively and disapprovingly as “the Indians.” 

The code of conduct notes that the Board of Supervisors recently added diversity education to the county’s list of required trainings. This new line of training includes education on implicit bias and cultural humility plus two sections that explicitly recognize “the important historical role of local tribal communities.”

Under the “Principles and Standards” section the document says, “The professional and personal conduct of Commissioners must be above reproach and by the law must avoid even the appearance of impropriety, which is critically important for maintaining a positive and productive image of county governance.”

The Board of Supervisors meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday inside board chambers at the Humboldt County Courthouse.  Theoretically you should be able to stream the meeting via Zoom by clicking a link that will appear on this page shortly before start time, but last week the county had technical difficulties that rendered the stream non-operational. But you can still participate by phone if you call the conference line 720-707-2699, enter Meeting ID 870 5493 8437 and press star (*) 9 to raise your hand. 

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Press release from the Eureka Police Department:

On October 24, 2022 at about 7:15 a.m., officers with the Eureka Police Department, with the assistance from the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and HCSO K9 Yahtzee, served a search warrant at a residence on the 1000 block of Hiller Road in McKinleyville. The search warrant was part of an ongoing investigation into 47-year-old Jed Vandanplas of McKinleyville for illegal firearms and narcotics.

During the search warrant, Vandanplas was located inside the residence and detained. During a search of the residence, officers located eight rifles including one assault rifle with a suppressor attached, four shotguns including one with an illegal short barrel, two handguns, thirty-two high capacity magazines for the assault rifle, six firearm suppressors, approximately 1.3 grams of suspected cocaine, approximately 2.2 grams of suspected methamphetamine, 15 Suboxone strips and drug paraphernalia.

Vandanplas was booked into the Humboldt County Correctional Facility for possession of firearms while in possession of narcotics, addict in possession of firearms, possession of an assault weapon, possession of high capacity magazines and possession of a short- barreled shotgun.