Brown Names New Supreme Court Nominee

Governor Jerry Brown announced today he’s picked U.S. Department of Justice Attorney Leondra Kruger to fill a vacancy on the California Supreme Court.

UC Davis Law School Associate Dean Vik Amar says he’s impressed with the range of Kruger’s experience.

"She has a little bit of academic experience, having taught for a year at the University of Chicago as a visiting professor. She has some private law firm experience," he says. "And she has experience is two very sophisticated, very important units within the Department of Justice in Washington, DC."

Kruger has argued 12 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

At 38 Kruger would be the youngest justice on the California Supreme Court. She would also be the only African- American.  

Brown’s previous two Supreme Court nominees were also minorities. Amar says that implies the pool of candidates is evolving.

"The fact that all three of these people have such amazing backgrounds and credentials suggests to me that we’re getting to a point where there are more and more Asians and Latinos and African-Americans to draw from," he says.

Kruger received her law degree from Yale and her undergraduate degree from Harvard.

In a statement Brown says Kruger is "a distinguished lawyer and uncommon student of law."