Gov. Gavin Newsom has announced three judicial appointees and the nomination of a fourth affecting Alameda and Santa Clara counties.
Charles A. Smiley, an Alameda County Superior Court judge since 2012, has been nominated for associate justice of the 1st District Court of Appeal, Division One. He has served as a lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law since 2014, the governor’s office said in a news release.
Smiley was a commissioner in the Alameda County Superior Court from 2007 to 2012. He was a deputy public defender in Alameda County from 1997 to 2007 and an associate adjunct professor at the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco from 2004 to 2007.
He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Sandra L. Margulies. The position pays $279,151.
Jamilah A. Jefferson, of Alameda County, has been appointed to serve as a judge in the Alameda County Superior Court. Jefferson has been supervising deputy city attorney of Oakland since 2019 after holding several roles there since 2012. She was a research attorney at the Alameda County Superior Court from 2006 to 2012.
She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Stephen D. Kaus. The position pays $243,940.
Jon A. Heaberlin, of Santa Clara County, has been appointed to serve as a judge in the Santa Clara County Superior Court. He has been a commissioner at the court since 2023. He fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Nona Klippen. The position pays $243,940.
Meghan Piano, of Santa Clara County, has been appointed to serve as a judge in the Santa Clara County Superior Court. She has been a deputy public defender in Santa Clara County since 2008. She was an adjunct professor at Santa Clara University School of Law from 2015 to 2022. Piano was a research assistant and clinical fellow for the Northern California Innocence Project at the university from 2007 to 2008.
She fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge James E. Towery. The position pays $243,940.
The post Newsom appoints judges to fill vacancies on Alameda, Santa Clara county superior courts appeared first on Local News Matters.