California Supreme Court Records

Search for public court records online in the Supreme Court of California. Lookup the case information you need and search by case number, case name, party, attorney, judge, docket entry, filing date, courthouse, case type, party type, party representation, and more. Get access to the court dockets, court documents, transcripts, and legal data on the parties, attorneys, law firms, and judges involved in court cases in the California Supreme Court.

UniCourt’s case search gives you real-time access to a range of case types in California appellate courts, including Civil Right, Contract, Criminal, Family, Forfeiture, Labor, Other, Personal Injury, Probate, Property, and Small Claim. Along with streamlined access to court data, you can also get the latest court docket information, obtain case summaries, check case statuses, download court documents, view tentative rulings, and track lawsuits to get real-time alerts on new case updates.

About the California Supreme Court

Established in 1849, the Supreme Court of California, or alternatively the California Supreme Court, is the highest state court and court of appeal in California. The Supreme Court reviews cases that focus on issues of significant statewide pertinence. As the apex court, the California Supreme Court is the last resort on questions of California State Law. The decisions of the Supreme Court provide the lower courts with guidance in the exercise of their powers and the administration of justice, affecting the lives of California’s 40 million residents. Decisions of the Supreme Court of California are binding on all California State Courts.

The State Constitution of California gives the California Supreme Court the power and authority to review the decisions of the California Court of Appeals.  As required by state law, all death penalty judgements by trial courts are automatically directly appealed to the Supreme Court. The California Supreme Court has discretionary appellate jurisdiction over cases that are reviewed by the California Court of Appeals to ensure that the law is applied uniformly across the six appellate districts. Additionally, the Court may also review decisions of the Public Utility Commission.

The Supreme Court of California has other duties as well. The Supreme Court supervises the lower courts, including the trial courts of the State of California via the Judicial Council of California and the California Commission on Judicial Performance. The Court also helps supervise those in the legal profession in California through the State Bar of California in matters concerning the suspension, removal, and misconduct of judges and attorneys.

The California Supreme Court has been headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building at Supreme Court of California, 350 McAllister St., San Francisco, CA 94102, since 1923. You can contact the Supreme Court of California headquarters by calling (415) 865-7000.

The California Supreme court hears oral arguments in Los Angeles three times each year, typically in April, June, and December at the Ronald Reagan State Office Building, 300 South Spring St., 3rd Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90013. In February and November, oral arguments may be heard at the Stanley Mosk Library and Courts Building, 914 Capitol Mall, Sacramento, CA 95814.

In accordance with Article VI § 2 of the California Constitution, the Supreme Court of California has one Chief Justice and six Associate Judges. These judges are appointed by the Governor, after being reviewed for gubernatorial nomination by the State Bar’s Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation. Appointment is confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which consists of the Chief Justice of California, the Attorney General of California, and a Senior Presiding Justice from the California Court of Appeals. To be eligible for appointment to the Supreme Court, a nominee must be a member of the State Bar of California or have been a judge in California for at least 10 years. All seven Supreme Court Justices are subject to retention elections and may serve for a term of 12 years.

The Supreme Court Clerk and Executive Officer is Jorge E. Navarrete.

The 29th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California is the Hon. Patricia Guerrero. The six Associate Justices are the Hon. Carol A. Corrigan, the Hon. Goodwin H. Liu, the Hon. Leonada R. Kruger, the Hon. Joshua P. Groban, the Hon. Martin J. Jenkins, and the Hon. Kelli Evans.

California Supreme Court Committees and Programs

Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics

The California Supreme Court is responsible for promulgating the Code of Judicial Ethics pursuant to Cal. Const., Art. VI, § 18(m). This committee makes recommendations to the court about whether any amendments to the code are required or necessary.

The current Code of Judicial Ethics was formally adopted by the Supreme Court on January 15th, 1996, and establishes standards for the ethical conduct of judges both on and off the bench.

The Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics is chaired by the Hon. Richard D. Fybel, Associate Justice of the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Three. The Staff Contact for the committee is Dawn Payne, who can be reached by calling (415) 865-4287.

Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions

The Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions was established to help inform the public and the judiciary about the Code of Judicial Ethics. It publishes formal advisory opinions, provides oral advice for proper judicial conduct under the California Code of Judicial Ethics, and issues confidential written opinions.

The committee accepts requests for any ethical opinions from judicial officers and also welcomes suggestions from any member of the public on matters related to judicial ethics which are of importance and interest to the community. The committee further issues judicial ethics advisory opinions and makes resources available through: the California Code of Judicial Ethics annotated with CJEO opinions, the California Code of Judicial Ethics annotated with CJP disciplinary decisions, a searchable database of all the CJEO opinions, and a newsletter.

The Office of the Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions is located at the Supreme Court of California headquarters in the Earl Warren Building. You can contact the Supreme Court Committee on Judicial Ethics Opinions by calling 1-855-854-5366, emailing judicial.ethics@jud.ca.gov, or via mail at the Supreme Court of California headquarters. The Committee Counsel is Nancy A. Black and the Committee Staff Attorney is Sanna R. Singer. You can contact this committee by calling (415) 865-7169.

Jury Selection Workgroup

The purpose of this group is to study whether additions or modification measures are needed to protect against impermissible discrimination in jury selection.

This group consists of 11 judges and justices who reflect the diversity of the state’s Judicial branch. The workgroup invites comments from the public on pertinent matters concerning jury selection in the State of California.

The Chair of the Jury Selection Workgroup is the Hon. Kathleen E. O’Leary. You can reach this committee by calling 415-865-4960 or emailing kara.porthow@jud.ca.gov.

California Supreme Court Operation

The Supreme Court of California has the discretion to decide which cases should be reviewed. The court follows certain steps to determine which cases to review and how to decide on the matters.

Weekly Conference

First, a petition for review is filed with the California Supreme Court. A petition conference is then scheduled. Petition conferences are scheduled for each Wednesday, except those Wednesdays where an oral argument has been scheduled instead.

The court has 60 days from the filing of the petition for review to decide whether the case is accepted. This deadline can be extended an additional 30 days if necessary. A conference memorandum is prepared after the conference by either the Justices or the Court’s Central Staff to help the justices assess the merits of the case and decide whether to accept the petition.

After a Case is Accepted

Once a case has been accepted for review, the Chief Justice assigns the case to any of the justices that voted in favor of the petition to prepare the calendar memorandum. The calendar memorandum contains the facts, analyzes the pertinent legal issues to be addressed in the case, and recommends a disposition. This memorandum is given to all the justices.

Individually, the justices decide to accept, amend, or have a new memorandum prepared and inform the Chief Justice of their choice. Depending on their decision, the Chief Justice may set the matter for oral arguments.

Oral Argument

During oral arguments, Attorneys present their case to the court and then complete any post-argument briefs. The Supreme Court is required to issue a written decision for any case it has decided to review within 90 days submission.

After Oral Argument

After oral arguments, the Supreme Court Justices hold a conference. The justices vote on how to decide the case, and the justice assigned to write the majority opinion prepares and circulates the majority opinion for voting. The majority opinion is individually reviewed by each of the justices and each justice is given time to write a concurring opinion or a dissenting opinion.

Final Step

After the justices have reached a conclusion, a “notice of forthcoming” is filed with the Clerk’s Office. This notice announces the date for which the written opinion of the court will be filed.

Generally, the Supreme Court files opinions on Mondays and Thursdays at 10 a.m. every week. At that time, the decisions are stamped as filed and are made public on both the court’s website and in the Clerk’s Office. After 30 days, the decision is deemed final.

The Supreme Court of California’s opinions are binding on all the California Superior, Appellate, and Trial courts. These opinions are collected in a bound volume called the Official California Reports for reference.

Courthouses in California Supreme Court

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California Supreme Court
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350 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102, USA

Facts and Statistics

  1. A leader in diversity, the first African-American California Supreme Court Justice was appointed in 1996 and the first Asian-American California Supreme Court Justice was appointed in 1977.
  2. In 1948, the Supreme Court of California struck down the ban on interracial marriage in Perez v. Sharp.
  3. Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero, the 29th Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court, is the first Latina to serve as California’s Chief Justice.
  4. The California Supreme Court has been a pioneer in protecting civil rights, including the rights of same-sex couples. In 2008, the court legalized same-sex marriage in California, but the decision was later overturned by a voter initiative.

Why use UniCourt to search for California Supreme Court Cases?

UniCourt is your single source for state and federal court records, offering comprehensive court coverage and the most complete and accurate dataset available.

Everyday of the week, UniCourt collects all of the newly filed civil and criminal cases in the California Supreme Court and lets you search through those new case filings in our CrowdSourced Library™. You can also use UniCourt to track state court litigation and get real-time case alerts sent directly to your inbox. Additionally, UniCourt empowers you to download court documents on-demand without ever having to login to a government court database, and gives you unlimited access to download millions of free state and federal court documents in our CrowdSourced Library™.

In addition to the Supreme Court of California, UniCourt provides you with access to many state courts across California, including many of the largest counties across the state, such as the Los Angeles County Superior Courts, the San Diego County Superior Courts, the Orange County Superior Courts, the Riverside County Superior Courts, and San Bernardino County Superior Courts.

UniCourt also gives you access to court records for all of the federal courts across the state of California.

U.S. District Courts

U.S. Bankruptcy Courts

U.S. Court of Appeals

UniCourt’s industry-leading Legal Data APIs provide Enterprise users with on-demand, bulk access to structured data from California state and federal courts. Our Legal Data as a Service (LDaaS) collects, organizes, standardizes, and normalizes court data from California state courts and all federal courts, and makes it readily available via our UniCourt Enterprise API for business development, competitive intelligence, litigation strategy, and docket management.

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Latest Court Cases from California Supreme Court

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SARINANA (TOMAS) ON H.C.

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TRITON PROPERTY INVESTMENTS v. GEORGE

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