Jefferson LECTURE SERIES

Living with Direct Democracy: The California Supreme Court and the Initiative Power — 100 Years of Accommodation

Honorable Kathryn Mickle Werdegar, Associate Justice , Supreme Court of California

March 20, 2012 — 4:10 PM
International House Auditorium, 2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley

About Honorable Kathryn Mickle Werdegar

Justice Werdegar was appointed to the California Supreme Court by Governor Pete Wilson in 1994. Prior to her elevation, she served on the First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco, where she was the only woman among 19 justices. Justice Werdegar obtained her A.B. degree with honors from the University of California at Berkeley. She attended law school at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Berkeley Law), where she stood first in her class and was the first woman to be elected Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. She completed her studies at George Washington University, graduating first in her class.

Before her appointment to the bench, Justice Werdegar’s career included service with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington D.C., and as Director of the Criminal Law Division of California Continuing Education of the Bar, professor and Associate Dean for Academic and Student Affairs at the University of San Francisco School of Law, and senior staff attorney with the California Supreme Court.

Justice Werdegar has authored law review articles, monographs, and other legal publications, including a benchbook on misdemeanor procedure for trial court judges.  Among the subjects addressed in her writings are alternative dispute resolution, issues in criminal procedure, and the value of diversity of the judicial system.  She is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Boalt Hall Citation Award (UC Berkeley Law’s highest honor), the George Washington Law Alumni Distinguished Public Service Award, the Roger J. Traynor Appellate Justice of the Year Award, and UC Berkeley Law’s  D. Lowell and Barbara Jensen Public Service Award.  In 2000 she was appointed Regents’ Lecturer at UC Berkeley, and she has been awarded honorary degrees from three universities.

“Justice Werdegar has been an eloquent and highly respected voice in the vital dialogue of recent years regarding constitutional principle and democratic governance,” says Jefferson Lectures Committee chair Harry N. Scheiber, the Riesenfeld Professor of Law and History. “Her contributions both to scholarship and to the jurisprudence of California’s high court are of enduring importance, and her lecture will deal with an issue—the initiative power in relation to the judicial role—which has been a key feature of conflicts over modern-day legal process in our state.”