Supreme Court Oral Argument 2025-11 -04 - Nov 04, 2025

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Supreme Court Oral Argument 2025-11 -04

Supreme Court of California 5h 25m 1 speaker 6 chapters transcribed 8 days ago official recording ↗

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What is the purpose of the opening ceremony and tribute to Justice Grodin?

Unknown 0:23

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the California Supreme Court. We're joined here today with pro tem justices. And for the panel this morning, we have Terese Stewart, the Honorable Terese Stewart. So we're welcoming her as well. Today, we're also holding a special session to honor Associate Justice Joseph R. Grodin, who served on this court for about four years from December 1982. until January 1987. On behalf of the court, I would like to express our appreciation for Justice Grodin's service to the court and the people of this state. He had a distinguished career serving as a labor lawyer, Supreme Court Justice, and also a professor, and inspired others with his dedication to justice, integrity, and fairness.

Unknown 1:17

We're pleased to be joined today by three speakers who will share some of their memories of Justice Grodin with us to help pay tribute to his enduring legacy. On behalf of the court, we welcome you and thank you for being here today. I will call each of you and ask that you please come to the podium when it's your turn. I believe I have the order right, but let me know if you have a difference of opinion. Mr. Jake Deer will be going first. He had the honor of working with Justice Grodin on this court. Professor Schiller, the Honorable Roger J. Treanor, Chair and Professor of Law at UC Law San Francisco, and Mr. Michael Cohen, Justice Grodin's grandson. Thank you and welcome. Mr. Deer.

Jake Deer 2:06

Good morning, Justices and family of Justice Grodin and friends who are watching on the live stream. In preparing for these remarks today I reviewed a number of articles that were published about Justice Grodin shortly after his passing and of course his extensive oral history. Those materials go a long way toward explaining and memorializing this extraordinary man but for now I'm going to share a few vignettes that I've seen not recounted in those publications. Some are small and personal. A couple might be of somewhat historical interest. All, I think, illuminate the man as a justice, as a lawyer, as a friend, and indeed as a citizen. I had the privilege of working directly for him in the final year and a half of his term on the court.

Jake Deer 3:05

and knowing him quite well in the ensuing four decades. Being on his staff was like being in a small group seminar in which one confronted the myriad issues that arose in this fascinating state. He'd meet in his chambers with his five staff attorneys and a couple externs every Tuesday afternoon to go over the petition conference looking at matters that were vying for a rare place on this court's discretionary docket. In this role, he was both a justice and a teacher. He would challenge our group consensus and assumptions, and he would force us, gently but firmly, to look at each issue from a different angle. This attribute, objective justice, Critical objectivity was a central characteristic of the man.

Jake Deer 4:08

And it manifested in various ways over the decades, the four decades that I knew him. Another thing about these staff meetings, they were fueled by popcorn. And he was frequently so... caught up in his thoughts that his fingers-to-mouth coordination was sometimes a bit off

Unknown 4:31

as he

Jake Deer 4:32

mused and gesticulated. And at the end of each session, there would be behind him on his floor a half circle of kernels. Then came the 1986 general election. Six justices on this court stood for reconfirmation. Forces had organized to oppose Chief Justice Rose Bird, focusing on her death penalty jurisprudence. The campaign was actually financed by business interests who were unhappy with some of the court's business determinations. Two of the associate justices on the ballot along with the chief, Cruz Reynoso and Joseph Grodin, were targeted along with the chief. In essence, the governor was being advised he could reshape the court if he came out against all three. Here's some significant unreported history about that.

Jake Deer 5:40

I understood at the time, and I've reconfirmed with a contemporaneous court colleague, that Justices Ed Pinelli and Malcolm Lucas both of whom had been appointed by the Republican governor, went to him and implored him not to come out against Justice Grodin.