San Diego Appellate judge Patricia Guerrero was sworn by Gov. Gavin Newsom Monday to the California Supreme court.
The Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed Guerrero's appointment last week in a unanimous vote to the state’s highest court, filling the vacancy left behind by Associate Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar.
“I did not get here alone. I am here because of the courage, sacrifices, and struggles of my parents and my grandparents. They came to this country knowing that it would not be easy for them. But like so many others, they came here with hope. Hope of a brighter future for their
Children,” Guerrero said.
State Sen. María Elena Durazo, D-Los Angeles, who chairs the California Latino Legislative Caucus, said "Today California makes history,'' in February when Newsom Nominated Guerrero.
“Latinas make up nearly 20 percent of California's population, but we are underrepresented in nearly every industry, including the California Judiciary. When Latinas are absent from this critical branch of government, our experiences and perspectives are excluded, and this ripples throughout our communities in so many other ways. Access to justice will be better served for all Californians,'' Durazo said.
The nation’s first Latina U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a letter to Guerrerro, “Your appointment is an important reminder of how far we have come and of how far we have yet to go. I know you will make our country proud. You already have.''
Guerrero, 50, is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and grew up in the agricultural Imperial Valley, where she graduated from Imperial High School. During college, she worked to support herself at the University of California, Berkeley, having earned grades among the top 4 percent in her class.
In 1997, she earned her Juris doctorate at Stanford Law School.
She began her law career in 2003 at Latham and Watkins LLP, becoming a partner in 2007. A few years later, former California Gov. Jerry Brown appointed Guerrero 2013 to the San Diego Superior Court bench.
Guerrero has served at the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division. One in San Diego since 2017.
Before her appointment to the appellate court, Guerrero was a San Diego Superior Court judge, as well as a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of California.
