California’s largest law enforcement union is urging voters to reject state Supreme Court Justice Kelli Evans in her retention election, mounting a late campaign over her support for reviewing criminal cases, CalMatters reported Oct. 31.
The Peace Officers Research Association of California acknowledges that it probably cannot muster enough votes to remove Evans. Union vice president Ben Therriault said the broader aim is to signal scrutiny of how judges apply recent laws expanding opportunities for parole and release. Evans, whom Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed in 2022, declined to comment on the ads. Retention would give her a 12-year term.
The campaign website relies on data compiled by At the Lectern, a blog covering the court. The blog reported last year that Evans and Justice Goodwin Liu had dissented dozens of times when other justices declined to review criminal cases. Those dissents concerned whether the court should examine cases, not decisions granting release.
The dispute comes as the court confronts laws adopted under Newsom and former Gov. Jerry Brown that broaden paths to parole or release. The Racial Justice Act also permits challenges to convictions or sentences when racial bias can be shown. PORAC argues that these changes conflict with voters’ support for tougher penalties for certain theft and drug offenses through Proposition 36 in 2024.
Legal scholars quoted by CalMatters warned that the campaign threatens judicial independence. Mary-Beth Moylan, an associate dean at McGeorge School of Law, expressed concern about the precedent, while Berkeley Law dean Erwin Chemerinsky said the effort had gained little attention and was unlikely to affect the result. California voters have removed Supreme Court justices through retention elections only once: in 1986, when three lost their seats after a campaign focused on death-penalty rulings.