Joyce L. Kennard

Joyce Luther Kennard (born May 6, 1941) is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California. Appointed by Governor George Deukmejian in 1989 she is the longest-serving justice sitting on the Court, having been retained by California's voters three times—first to fill the unexpired term in 1990, followed by second and third consecutive twelve-year terms in 1994 and 2006.

Early years

Kennard was born in the province of West Java in Indonesia, to a Dutch-Indonesian father and a Chinese-Indonesian mother. English is not her native language; she speaks it with a strong Dutch accent. Her father died in a Japanese concentration camp when she was just one year old.^[1]

Kennard immigrated to Los Angeles in 1961. In 1970, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts magna cum laude in German from the University of Southern California, where she also graduated in 1974 with a Master of Public Administration and a Juris Doctor from the USC Gould School of Law. Born to a family of modest means, Kennard worked as a secretary to pay for her education.

Judicial career

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 to the California Superior Court in 1987 and elevated again to the California Court of Appeal in 1988. Finally, in 1989, Governor George Deukmejian appointed her to the California Supreme Court. Upon taking her oath, Kennard became the second woman and the first Asian American to serve as a justice on the Court.

During her time on the bench, Kennard has authored numerous high-profile opinions, the best-known of which is Kasky v. Nike (2002) 27 Cal. 4th 939. 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 California Supreme 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.

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 from the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, Kennard often asks the first question in a given case.

Kennard walks with the help of a prosthesis, as her leg was amputated when she was a teenager.

References

• Philip Hager, "L.A. Judge Named to California High Court," L.A Times, 12 March 1989.
• Philip Hager, "Kennard Seeks Her Own Way on High Court," L.A. Times, 17 September 1989.

External links

• Official biography