Berkeley School of Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky writes in the Sacramento Bee in support of Senate Concurrent Resolution 47, which would rename a State Capitol plaza in honor of former California Chief Justice Rose Bird. He claims “[i]t is long overdue to remember and honor” her.
Chemerinsky says that “Bird’s legacy is tainted by” the1986 election when voters denied new terms to her and Justices Cruz Reynoso and Joseph Grodin, “but she never did anything wrong.” “The circumstances surrounding Bird’s departure from the bench shouldn’t obscure her tremendous achievements,” he continues. “Her being denied retention was about the politics of that moment and unquestionably aided by sexism.”
The resolution passed the Senate last week by a 30-7 vote and now awaits action in the Assembly.
Related:
Bill would honor former Chief Justice Rose Bird
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“Thirty Years After a Hundred Year Flood: Judicial Elections and the Administration of Justice”