Laurie EarlIncumbent

Candidate for Court of Appeal Justice, California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, Seat 1

Laurie M. Earl is the Presiding Justice, and also the Administrative Presiding Justice, of the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, in Sacramento. She was born in San Jose. She was raised in Modesto. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from UC Berkeley. She earned her J.D. from Lincoln Law School of Sacramento in 1988. She began her career as an assistant public defender. That was in the Sacramento County Public Defender's Office, from 1989 to 1995. She then served as a deputy district attorney. That was in the Sacramento County District Attorney's Office, from 1995 to 2004. In 2005, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger put her on the Sacramento County Superior Court. There, she served as assistant presiding judge from 2010 to 2012. She then served as presiding judge from 2012 to 2014. Gov. Gavin Newsom put her name up for the Third District Court of Appeal in November 2021. The Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed her, with no votes against, as an associate justice on January 6, 2022. In March 2023, Newsom put her name up to be the court's presiding justice. The Commission confirmed her by a vote of 3 to 0 in July 2023. She took her oath on July 10, 2023. She is the first openly lesbian jurist to lead the Third District. She is also only the second woman to lead it. As presiding justice, she now appears on the November 3, 2026 ballot for a nonpartisan retention vote. No one is running against her. If most voters mark yes, she keeps her seat.

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