Leondra Kruger

Born in the Los Angeles area,[2] Kruger grew up in South Pasadena.[3] Her mother is Jamaican[4] and her father is Jewish.[5] She attended Polytechnic School, a private day school, in Pasadena, California.[2] She then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Harvard University, where she wrote for The Harvard Crimson and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.[6][7][8] She graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School, where she served as Editor-in-Chief of the prestigious Yale Law Journal.[9][10] In the summer of 1999, she interned at the United States Attorney's office in Los Angeles. In 2000, she worked as a summer associate at Munger, Tolles & Olson.[6]

Kruger worked as an associate at the Jenner & Block law firm from 2001 until 2002. She then worked as a law clerk for Judge David Tatel on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit from 2002 until 2003. Kruger then clerked for Justice John Paul Stevens of the United States Supreme Court from 2003 until 2004.[11][8]

From 2004 to 2006, Kruger was an associate at Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr.[12] She was a visiting assistant professor in 2007 at the University of Chicago Law School.[12][13]

From 2007 to 2013, Kruger was an assistant to the United States Solicitor General and the acting principal deputy solicitor general.[8] She argued 12 cases before the US Supreme Court.[14]

In 2013, Kruger became a deputy assistant attorney general at the United States Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel.[11]

On November 24, 2014, Governor Jerry Brown announced the appointment of Kruger to the California Supreme Court.[2] She had no prior judicial experience before her appointment to the California Supreme Court.[15]

Kruger was confirmed on December 29, 2014, and replaced Associate Justice Joyce L. Kennard, who retired.[16][17] She was sworn in on January 5, 2015, and became the court's second African-American woman justice, following Janice Rogers Brown.[18][19][12] At 38, she was the youngest appointee[lower-alpha 1] to the court in recent years and the third youngest appointee to the court ever, after Hugh C. Murray and M. C. Sloss.[20][11] In November 2015, Kruger delivered the annual Bernard E. Witkin lecture before the Los Angeles County Bar Association.[13]

On the court, Kruger has emerged as a moderate,[21] and is sometimes considered one of the swing votes when the court is occasionally divided.

Her opinions include Barry v. State Bar of California (2017) 2 Cal.5th 318, concerning subject matter jurisdiction and California's anti-SLAPP statute.[22][23]

After then Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden made a campaign pledge to appoint the first African-American woman to the United States Supreme Court, Kruger became the subject of speculation as a future court nominee.[24] If she replaces Justice Stephen Breyer she would also continue the tradition of the court's "Jewish seat."

Kruger is married to Brian Hauck, a partner at Jenner & Block in Los Angeles, and they have two children.[25][26]

• List of justices of the Supreme Court of California
• Vaino Spencer
• Janice Rogers Brown

Media related to Leondra Kruger at Wikimedia Commons

• Profile. California State Courts.
• Oral arguments of Leondra R. Kruger before the U.S. Supreme Court. Oyez.com.
• Profile of Leondra R. Kruger. SCOCAL. Robert Crown Law Library, Stanford Law School.
• Past & Present Justices. California Supreme Court.

• Confirmation Hearing of Leondra R. Kruger. Video 35:49 mins. December 22, 2014. YouTube.com.
• Presentation of Leondra R. Kruger at the ABA Criminal Justice Section annual meeting. August 5, 2016. Video 22:59 mins. YouTube.com.
• Appearances on C-SPAN

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