In a Surprise Choice, Gov. Brown Names White House Lawyer To California Supreme Court

California’s Gov. Jerry Brown (D) has named a top Obama administration lawyer, Leondra Kruger, to serve on the state’s highest court. Kruger, a deputy attorney general who also worked for the U.S. Solicitor General’s office, is among the youngest justices to be named to the Court at just 38 years old, and will also be the California Supreme Court’s first African American justice since Justice Janice Rogers Brown moved to a federal appeals court in 2005. A three-judge state commission will now consider Kruger for confirmation.