Justice Martin Jenkins to retire from California Supreme Court

California Supreme Court Justice Martin J. Jenkins announced Thursday that he will retire at the end of the month.

The 71-year-old justice, who has spent more than 35 years as a federal and state judge and was frequently credited as an adviser to aspiring judges, was appointed to the court by Gov. Gavin Newsom in October 2020 and was sworn in two months later.

"I could not imagine a better capstone to my career on the bench than serving on the California Supreme Court," Jenkins said in a statement. He is the court's first openly gay justice.

Jenkins spent nearly two years prior to his appointment as Newsom's judicial appointments secretary until the governor persuaded him to fill the vacancy created by Justice Ming W. Chin's retirement, the justice said at the time.

His retirement will leave an opening for Newsom to fill. Jenkins was the governor's first of three appointees on the court. He subsequently appointed now-Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero and Justice Kelli M. Evans to the seven-member court.

Guerrero praised Jenkins in a statement.

"His collegiality, and the thoughtfulness and care with which he has approached his work, have provided a constant source of inspiration. I speak for all of my colleagues when I thank Justice Jenkins for his many contributions to the court, to the public, and to the law," she wrote.

Jenkins was a mainstream liberal on a court dominated by appointees of Democratic governors and rarely dissented, serving along with Justice Leondra R. Kruger and Justice Joshua P. Groban as swing votes on a few criminal cases.

He rarely joined Justice Goodwin H. Liu and Evans on the court's left wing, who regularly fire off dissents about criminal sentencing of younger defendants and jury selection bias, or Justice Carol A. Corrigan and Guerrero as a critic of opinions that allowed lighter criminal sentences and reversal of convictions.

"It is fair to say he wasn't part of any voting bloc," David A. Carrillo, executive director of the California Constitution Center at UC Berkeley School of Law, responded in an email.

Carrillo added that Jenkins has "had an epic career, holding nearly every possible judicial seat in California."

Before joining the Newsom administration, Jenkins was a justice on the 1st District Court of Appeal from 2008 to 2019 and a U.S. district judge in the Northern District of California from 1997 to 2008.

Previously, Jenkins was an Alameda County Superior Court judge from 1992 to 1997 and a municipal court judge in Oakland from 1989 to 1992.

He was a graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Law, a career path he took after signing briefly with the Seattle Seahawks football team after starring at Santa Clara University in college.

"Having been a judge at every level of the state court system and with the federal district court, I have seen firsthand how judges and justices at each stage of the judicial process faithfully apply the law in a fair and empathetic manner," Jenkins wrote in his retirement announcement.

His experience as a lawyer included three years as a trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice and another three years as a prosecutor with the Alameda County District Attorney's Office.

Jenkins won retention to the court in 2022.

Of his efforts over the years to tout and encourage minority attorneys, Jenkins wrote in an email that he saw it as crucial: "I view mentorship--sharing insights with and helping young lawyers see themselves in the judicial role--as important to maintaining a talented and diverse judiciary."

After his retirement, Jenkins said he wants to keep serving the public by educating high school students "about the importance of civics education in our democracy. I also plan to dedicate more time to improving my piano skills."