Liberal scholar picked for California court

SAN FRANCISCO – Gov. Jerry Brown has nominated University of California, Berkeley, law professor Goodwin Liu to the California Supreme Court, picking a liberal legal scholar whose nomination for a seat on a federal appeals court was stubbornly blocked by conservative Republicans.

Liu, 40, whose nomination is expected to be approved by a three-member confirmation panel, will become the fourth Asian on the seven-member, moderately conservative court and likely its most liberal member. He will take the seat left vacant by Justice Carlos Moreno, the court’s sole Latino and Democrat who retired Feb. 28.

Liu became a top candidate for the post after Republicans scuttled his nomination by President Barack Obama to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The day after a U.S. Senate vote ensured Liu would not get the federal judgeship, the governor’s office called him about the state high court.

Rather than viewing the lost confirmation battle as a strike against Liu, Brown said he considered it an asset. His advisers said they considered Liu’s opponents in the Senate conservative extremists.

“The dysfunctionality in Washington and the blockage at all costs by the more extreme Republicans, I don’t think that should be given a lot of intellectual weight,” said Brown, who sources said offered Liu the job on Sunday.

Liu’s writings suggest he is skeptical of the death penalty, although he has said he would have no difficulty enforcing it.

Liu is considered a supporter of gay rights, including same-sex marriage, and civil rights for other minority groups.

He is expected to be on the court in time to hear arguments in the challenge against Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that reinstated a ban on same-sex marriage.

The state high court will decide whether initiative proponents have the legal right to appeal court orders against the measures they sponsored.