Out Lesbian Joins CA Appellate Bench

A host of California appellate justices, as well as a state Supreme Court nominee, joined LGBT community leaders and San Francisco's legal establishment to witness the swearing-in of the Golden State's first lesbian appeals court justice.

More than 150 people gathered in the auditorium of the State Office Building in San Francisco's Civic Center Friday, August 15 to see Therese M. Stewart take her oath of office to a seat on Division Two of the First District Court of Appeal. J. Anthony Kline, who has long been friends with Stewart and is the acting presiding justice for Division Two, administered the oath.

A clearly nervous Stewart flubbed the second and third lines of the oath, and after she correctly repeated the fourth, Kline joked to her, "Good."

Stewart's wife, Carole Scagnetti, herself an attorney, then enrobed her.

"Her choices will be energized by her passion for justice and rooted in her deep generosity of spirit," said Scagnetti, adding that, "I am so proud of you today and so proud of us as a family."

Formerly City Attorney Dennis Herrera's chief deputy, Stewart is best known for litigating the state's marriage equality lawsuits that secured marriage rights for same-sex couples, first at the state level in 2008 and then, in 2013, as part of the federal litigation.

She applied for a judicial appointment with Governor Jerry Brown last fall and was notified two days before this year's Pride parade in late June of her nomination to a vacancy on the appellate court. Hailed for her legal advocacy skills, Stewart said she had bequeathed her role as an advocate to her former colleagues in the city attorney's office now that she has to be an impartial justice.

As for her passion, particularly for the country's democratic principles and legal system, Stewart will maintain it on the bench.

"It is something I can still be passionate about and still be a judge," said Stewart, 57, who wore a charcoal gray suit and an open-collared pink oxford with white stripes. "I embark on this new career without bequeathing my passion to anyone. I am comfortable I can still be me and do this job."

Among those in the audience were members of the federal Prop 8 litigation legal team, including attorneys Ted Olson, Theodore J. Boutrous Jr., and Bobbie Wilson, a lesbian recently named to the city's Board of Appeals. Also present was one of the plaintiffs, Sandra Stier, who said she and her wife, Kris Perry, were proud of Stewart, who they "are so fortunate" to call a friend.

Boutrous joked that his experience working with Stewart on the case taught him that, "Justice Stewart is always right."

Herrera, in his prepared remarks, told the audience that the prospect of losing Stewart, his first hire 13 years ago after being elected city attorney, while "inevitable" has nonetheless been "especially emotional" for him.

"Not a day has gone by where Terry Stewart was not by my side as a trusted deputy and the dearest of friends," said Herrera, adding that he will miss "her fun, her spunk, and her spirit."

Also in attendance were the state's first openly gay presiding justice of an appellate court division, James M. Humes, who oversees the First District Court of Appeal's Division One, and Stanford law professor Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, whom Brown recently named to a vacancy on the state Supreme Court.

Gay state Senator Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) called Stewart "a dear friend" and said he "had to be" present for her investiture ceremony.

"I am thoroughly confident Terry will be a remarkable justice for this reason. No one understands justice better than someone who has been denied it, fought for it, and regained it," said Leno. "Everyone will be fortunate to be before her bench."

Well known lesbian journalist Helen Zia, who testified on behalf of the plaintiffs in the federal Prop 8 trial, also was in attendance last week to see Stewart take her oath of office.

"Terry has just been such a persistent and determined voice for our LGBT community and for all people, all Californians, and all Americans," said Zia, who was accompanied by her wife, Lia Shigemura, to the ceremony. "We are happy for her and wanted to be here to celebrate with her."