Courtesy photo

State Court of Appeal Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger Wednesday nominated state Court of Appeal Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye of Sacramento to be the new chief justice of the California Supreme Court.

Cantil-Sakauye, 50, is the daughter of two farmworkers and would be the high court's first Filipina-American judge if confirmed to the post by a state commission.

She would also give the seven-member court a majority of four women for the first time in its history.

"She is the living embodiment of the American Dream," Schwarzenegger said.

Cantil-Sakauye would replace Chief Justice Ronald George, who announced last week he will retire on Jan. 2.

"Being nominated to serve on the state's highest court is a dream come true," she said in a statement. "As a jurist, woman and a Filipina, I am extremely grateful for the trust Gov. Schwarzenegger has placed in me."

Cantil-Sakauye was appointed to the Court of Appeal by Schwarzenegger in 2005 and was previously a trial judge for 14 years.

Before that, she served as a deputy legal affairs secretary and deputy legislative secretary to Gov. George Deukmejian and as a deputy district attorney in Sacramento County.

She is also a member of the state Judicial Council, the governing body of the California court system. She has served on several task forces and commissions working on issues such as judicial efficiency, judicial recruitment and the handling of domestic violence cases.

As chief justice, Cantil-Sakauye would chair the council and be responsible for leading the state court system, which is one of the world's largest with more than 1,700 judges and a $4 billion budget. Both the council and state Supreme Court are based in San Francisco.

Santa Clara University law professor Gerald Uelmen said that while Cantil-Sakauye is not widely known statewide, she has a good reputation as a judge and appears to have the crucial administrative skills needed to lead the court system.

"Like everyone else, I was surprised by the appointment," Uelmen said. "She's not widely known, although she certainly enjoys a terrific reputation in Sacramento.

"She is perceived as a moderate judge. But what she will bring to the job, probably more importantly, is administrative skills and experience working with the Legislature, the governor and the Judicial Council."

Uelmen predicted Cantil-Sakauye's confirmation by the state Commission on Judicial Appointments "will be swift and unanimous."

The commission will be made up of George, Attorney General Jerry Brown and Joan Dempsey Klein, the state's senior appeals court presiding justice.

Commission spokeswoman Lynn Holton said a hearing would be scheduled after a State Bar committee completes an evaluation report.

If approved by the commission, Cantil-Sakauye will also go before California voters on the Nov. 2 ballot for approval for a 12-year term. She would take office on Jan. 3 if approved.

Cantil-Sakauye was born and raised in Sacramento, and she received her undergraduate and law degrees from the University of California, Davis in 1980 and 1984.

Her Filipina-American mother was one of 11 siblings in a family of itinerant farmworkers in the Central Valley, and her Filipino-Portuguese father worked on sugar cane and pineapple plantations in Hawaii before coming to Sacramento.

In an interview in Filipina Women's Network magazine in 2007, Cantil-Sakauye credited her mother with inspiring her to get as much education as she could, work hard and believe that many possibilities were open to her.

"I was raised by her to believe I could do anything," Cantil-Sakauye said in the interview. "There were no limitations on what I could do."

Cantil-Sakauye, a Republican, is married to Sacramento police Lt. Mark Sakauye. The couple has two daughters.

If confirmed, Cantil-Sakauye will be one of three members of the court who are of Asian heritage, together with Justices Ming Chin and Joyce Kennard.

William Tamayo, a regional attorney for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in San Francisco, graduated from UC Davis' law school six years before Cantil-Sakauye and also had a Filipino father who worked on plantations in Hawaii.

Tamayo said he and other Filipino-American lawyers are thrilled by the appointment.

"It's a tribute to our parents' years of hard work and struggle, he said.