While I was reading this opinion this morning from the California Supreme Court -- the only published appellate opinion today from the California courts -- it struck me how fortunate I was to be living in our great state. The typical upsides and downsides of living in California are well-known; for the former, awesome weather, great beaches, cool citizenry (for the most part), etc., and high housing costs and tax rates (inter alia) for the latter.
But what I really felt strongly when I read today's opinion -- which is by no means an exceptional or unusual one, I might add -- was just how much I like living in a state that has a supreme court like ours. It's really, really quite good. The opinions are almost always extremely well-written. They make sense. They demonstrate common sense. And, a huge number of times, they're unanimous.
That's not easy. At all. The truth of the matter is that we have a darn good California Supreme Court. With respect to matters both critical and high-profile as well as in more pedestrian cases.
That's super nice. It's comforting -- truly comforting -- to know that, at the highest level, your state judiciary is really quite talented and good. Not only the individual justices, but the institution as a whole.
It's not like I think that other state supreme courts, or the U.S. Supreme Court, are horrible tribunals run by incompetents. There's nonetheless a difference. The Supreme Court, for example, has plenty of incredibly bright justices, and often renders well-crafted opinions with which I agree. But there's a partisanship and vitriol and results-orientedness there that's palpably less present in the California Supreme Court.
Today's opinion, written by Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye, is yet another example of the mold. Well-reasoned. Easy to read. Makes good argument. Reaches an equitable result. Unanimous.
Everything you'd hope for.
It's easy to take stuff like that for granted. I certainly do (at times). So it bears at least occasional mention. It's nice to live in a place governed like that -- and with people/justices like that.
I wrote almost all the above before I had a morning that I can definitely describe as . . . interesting, and that itself reaffirmed (albeit on a different level) the many reasons that California is a great place -- and the California Supreme Court's role in keeping it so. Sometimes I think I might be guilty of what my daughter calls "TMI" on this blog, so I'll keep the details limited, but this morning I was the personal beneficiary of one of the rules created by a prior Supreme Court decision (Tarasoff), and was definitely grateful therefor. Nature has made California great in a variety of ways, but the people -- as well as the California Supreme Court -- have played, and continue to play, a huge part as well. My experiences this morning, both in reading today's opinion and otherwise, highlighted for me just how great it is to be surrounded by the place in which I reside as well as the people who share my residence in this great state.
On a more pedestrian note, I also liked today's opinion because Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye taught me a new word. Page nine, second paragraph: "Defendant had not exhausted direct review of the order causing his carceral punishment to take effect." Had to look that one up. Made sense after I did, but definitely hadn't seen that word before. Totally fits the holding of the case, which involves when an opinion is final if a custodial sentence is imposed but suspended, probation follows, and then the guy is violated and the sentence takes effect). The fancy word wasn't just used to impress people; it fits perfectly. Well done.
Oh, and I also liked the following two sentences in that paragraph as well, which read: "The time for him to seek that review had not expired. And he had not successfully completed probation." As you may know from reading this blog, I occasionally begin sentences with "And" as well -- something that I didn't do a couple of decades ago, but eventually picked up, much to the chagrin of certain people who are convinced it's totally improper grammar. Good to see that at least I've got the Chief Justice on my side. (Or at least with whom to share the scorn.)
