The Senate has confirmed California Supreme Court Justice Janice Rogers Brown to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals. As other commentators are already noting, this leaves a looming vacancy on the nation's largest state's highest court and also severely dimishes the level of diversity on that seven-member court. Brown was the second woman and only African American member of the Court, which has 1 Democraticand 6 Republican appointees. The California Supreme Court has major issues pending before it within the next year, particularly Woo v Lockyer which seeks to end discrimination on the basis of sex and sexual orientation in marriage (i.e. "the same sex marriage case").
As Schwarzenegger positions himself for re-election in 2006 and considers his legacy, appointing a member of the California Supreme Court in his first term will be a major part of it. (State Supreme Court appointees do not come up that often. Gray Davis only got one, Carlos Moreno, in his 5 years serving as Governor.) African American voters will notice if the 'black seat' held by Janice Rogers Brown is filled by someone who does not enhance the diversity of the Court.
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