Martin Joseph Jenkins (born November 12, 1953) is an American attorney and jurist serving as an associate justice of the

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...

. He was previously a justice of the

California Court of Appeal The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts.

for the First District, located in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, and a former

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the Northern District of California The United States District Court for the Northern District of California (in case citations, N.D. Cal.) is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, De ...

Early life and education

Jenkins was born in

and raised in the neighborhood of Ingleside.Harriet Chiang
Wal-Mart judge praised for compassion, diligence
, ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The pa ...

'' (June 23, 2004). He earned an

Associate of Arts An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

degree from

City College of San Francisco City College of San Francisco (CCSF or City College) is a public community college in San Francisco, California. Founded as a junior college in 1935, the college plays an important local role, annually enrolling as many as one in nine San Franci ...

, then graduated from

Santa Clara University Santa Clara University is a private Jesuit university in Santa Clara, California. Established in 1851, Santa Clara University is the oldest operating institution of higher learning in California. The university's campus surrounds the historic Mi ...

with a Bachelor of Arts degree.Governor Schwarzenegger Appoints Martin Jenkins to First District Court of Appeal
, ''Press Release: Office of the Governor'' (January 28, 2008). Jenkins played on the

Santa Clara Broncos football The Santa Clara Broncos football program was the intercollegiate American football team for Santa Clara University located in Santa Clara, California. Santa Clara played its first football game against St. Mary's College in San Francisco in 189 ...

team at

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. After college, Jenkins briefly played professional football for the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West, which they rejoined ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

. Jenkins then attended the

University of San Francisco School of Law The University of San Francisco School of Law (USF Law) is the law school of the private University of San Francisco. Established in 1912, it received American Bar Association accreditation in 1935 and joined the Association of American Law Scho ...

, where he earned his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

with honors.

Career

Jenkins was a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

in the

Alameda County Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Ala ...

District Attorney's Office, California, from 1980 to 1981, and then a deputy district attorney (prosecutor) in that same office from 1981 to 1983.Commission Confirms Judge Martin Jenkins as Court of Appeal Justice
, ''Metropolitan News-Enterprise'' (April 7, 2008). and for the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...

in the

Civil Rights Division The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is the institution within the federal government responsible for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. Th ...

from 1983 to 1985. In 1985, Jenkins moved back to the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Gove ...

when his mother became ill, then served as in-house counsel for

Pacific Bell The Pacific Bell Telephone Company (Pacific Bell or Pac Bell) is a telephone company that provides telephone service in California. The company is owned by AT&T through AT&T Teleholdings, and, though separate, is now marketed as “AT&T”. The ...

for four years. He served as the Judicial Appointments Secretary for California Governor Gavin Newsom from January 14, 2019 to December 4, 2020.

Judicial service

A Democrat,Howard Mintz
Schwarzenegger defies stereotypes, party labels in shaping California judiciary
, ''

Contra Costa Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the East Bay ...

'' (July 24, 2010). Jenkins was appointed to the Alameda County Municipal Court by Republican

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political r ...

George Deukmejian Courken George Deukmejian Jr. (; June 6, 1928 – May 8, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. Of Armenian descent, Deukmejian was a member of the Republican Party and he also serve ...

in 1989. In 1992, Republican Governor

Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 36th governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party, he also served as a United States senator from California be ...

appointed him to the

Alameda County Superior Court The Alameda County Superior Court, officially the Superior Court of California, County of Alameda, is the California superior court with jurisdiction over Alameda County as established by Article VI of the Constitution of California. It functions ...

, where he served until 1997. Jenkins was a United States District Judge of the

. He was nominated by President Bill Clinton on July 24, 1997, to a seat vacated by Eugene F. Lynch. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and power ...

on November 9, 1997, and received commission on November 12, 1997. His contribution to federal law includes the Jenkins-Laporte Doctrine, which defines the boundary of copyright and contractual rights in the licensing of digital works.California Supreme Court Judge Martin Jenkins to receive Stonewall Award
''The American Bar Association Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity '' (February 4, 2021). In August 2007, Jenkins asked Republican Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

to consider him for a seat on the California Court of Appeal.Bob Egelko
Federal judge nominated to state appeals court
''

'' (January 26, 2008). On January 25, 2008, Schwarzenegger nominated Jenkins to fill the vacancy on the First District Court of Appeal created by the retirement of Justice Joanne C. Parrilli. Jenkins resigned from the federal bench on April 3 and was confirmed on the state bench on April 4, 2008. On October 5, 2020, Governor Newsom announced that he would nominate Jenkins to be an associate justice of the

, replacing Ming Chin, who retired on August 31, 2020. When confirmed, he became the first openly gay justice, the third African American man, and the fifth African American person to serve on the court. On November 11, 2020, Jenkins was confirmed as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California. The state's Commission on Judicial Appointments approved his nomination by a 3-0 vote. On December 4, 2020, Jenkins was sworn in as the newest Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court. In 2022, Jenkins voted with a majority of the California Supreme Court in ordering University of California, Berkeley to cut its enrollment after a local NIMBY group argued that more students in the college town would have an adverse environmental impact. , following the 2022 election, he was retained by California voters to continue to serve as an associate justice with 69.4% of an affirmative vote.

Personal life

Jenkins is

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and a member of the St. Thomas More Society of San Francisco. Jenkins is openly gay.

References

Sources