Governor Gavin Newsom yesterday administered the oath of office (see Vogel v. Los Angeles County (1967) 68 Cal.2d 18 [part of oath prescribed by the state constitution violates the federal constitution]) to Martin Jenkins, ending a nearly one-month gap between Justice Jenkins’s confirmation and his joining the Supreme Court. It was a remote, virtual ceremony.
Noting that Justice Jenkins is now the first openly gay member of the court, Governor Newsom said in a statement, “our state once again makes history, and we elevate an extraordinary Californian to the bench.”
When his appointment was announced in October, Jenkins said, “my identity has been, as a gay man, perhaps the greatest challenge of my life,” and he recognized the “significant responsibility that goes with being [the] first.”