by Justice William W. Bedsworth
April 19, 2024
Governor Gavin Newsom State Capitol 1021 O Street Suite 9000 Sacramento, CA 95814
Luis Cespedes Appointment Secretary State Capitol 1021 O Street Suite 9000 Sacramento, CA 95814
Dear Governor Newsom:
I write for two reasons. The first is to thank and congratulate you and Secretary Cespedes for your excellent choices to fill seats in the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division 3, on which I presently serve. The second is to inform you of my intention to retire from that court, effective October 22.
I am the longest-serving member in that court’s history. It has been my great privilege and pleasure to work there for the last 27 years. Your father having enjoyed a similar privilege (I was a big fan), I am sure you understand how difficult this letter is to write.
But I’ve had a good run. I got to write what State Senator Carol Migden called “the first gay rights case in the history of the world.” My decision in People v. Garcia (2000) 77 Cal.App.4th 1269 does appear to be the first such precedent in American history. The Legislature explicitly referred to it as the impetus for its consequent amendment of CCP section 231.5 to prohibit consideration of sexual orientation as a basis for the exercise of a peremptory challenge to a juror.
I also wrote Kim v. Westmoore Partners, Inc. (2011), Interstate Specialty Marketing, Inc. v. ICRA Sapphire, Inc. (2013) and Lasalle v. Vogel (2019), which led to the honor of serving on the California Civility Task Force and prompted its chair, Justice Brian Curry, to refer to me as the author of “the Holy Trinity of civility cases.”
I always told my law students at UCI that “there is no greater engine on the planet for the accomplishment of good than the American legal system” in which I have been allowed to serve. I also told them they were going into this profession with the goal not of becoming rich and famous, but of becoming proud and happy.
I have reached that point. To stay longer would be greedy. It’s time to find out who I am without a robe, something I have not investigated for 37 years.
Having watched you appoint Mo Sanchez, Joanne Motoike, Tom Delaney, and Martha Gooding, I am confident I leave both my court and my seat in good hands. Thank you, and good luck in the rest of your administration.
Sincerely,
WILLIAM W. BEDSWORTH Associate Justice