Joyce L. Kennard

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[[1]]Joyce Luther Kennard (b. May 6, 1941) is an associate justice on the California Supreme Court (appointed 1989 by Gov. George Deukmejian). Born in a Japanese concentration camp in the province of West Java in Indonesia, Justice Kennard is of Dutch, Indonesian, German, and Chinese ancestry. English is not her native language; she speaks it with a slight Dutch accent. The longest serving justice on the Court, Justice Kennard has been retained by California's voters three times--in 1990, 1994 and 2006.

Justice Kennard immigrated to Los Angeles in 1961. In 1974, she graduated with a Juris Doctor from the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California, where she also earned a Bachelor's Degree in German and a Master of Public Administration. Born to a family of modest means, Justice Kennard worked as a secretary to pay for her education.

After graduating from law school, Justice Kennard's rise within the California court system was, and is often described as, "meteoric." Appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1986, Kennard was elevated in 1987 to the California Superior Court, and elevated again, in 1988, to the California Court of Appeal. Finally, in 1989, Governor George Deukmejian appointed her to the California Supreme Court. Upon taking her oath, Justice Kennard became the second woman and the first Asian American to serve as a justice on the Court.

During her time on the bench, Justice Kennard has authored numerous high-profile opinons, the best-known of which is Kasky v. Nike. In that case, the California Supreme Court held that Nike could not claim a First Amendment "commercial free speech" defense when charged with lying about sweatshop conditions in its overseas manufacturing plants. The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari, apparently at the urging of Justice Anthony Kennedy, who wanted to reverse. Harvard Professor Laurence Tribe, who had criticized the Califonia Surpreme Court's decision, represented Nike. But ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to render an opinion, instead letting the California Supreme Court's decision stand. Many legal scholars believe the U.S. Supreme Court did not act on its grant of certiorari because upon close examination--and notwithstanding Professor Tribe's advocacy--they realized Justice Kennard's reasoning was impeccable.

Justice Kennard has a reputation for aggressive questioning during oral argument. She does not hesitate to ask long and complicated questions--often speaking for minutes at a time before prompting an attorney to respond. Like her retired counterpart, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Justice Kennard often asks the first question in a given case.

Justice Kennard is highly respected in the California legal community, as well as on the Court itself. During conferences, other justices, including Chief Justice Ronald M. George, often will defer to her judgment.

Her leg having been amputated when she was a teenager, Justice Kennard walks with the help of a prosthesis.

In 1999, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Justice Kennard was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol after one of her tires suddenly flattened, causing her car to shimmy. Though initial suspicion suggested Kennard might have been intoxicated, she was not charged with an offense. Many believe the CHP officer mistook her limp and her Dutch-influenced intonation as signs of intoxication.