Joyce Luther Kennard (born May 6, 1941) is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California. She was born in a Japanese concentration camp in the province of West Java in Indonesia, to a Dutch-Indonesian father and a Chinese-Indonesian mother. English is not her native language; she speaks it with a slight Dutch accent. Appointed by Governor George Deukmejian in 1989 she is the longest-serving justice sitting on the Court, having been reta...
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Joyce Luther Kennard (born May 6, 1941) is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California. She was born in a Japanese concentration camp in the province of West Java in Indonesia, to a Dutch-Indonesian father and a Chinese-Indonesian mother. English is not her native language; she speaks it with a slight Dutch accent. Appointed by Governor George Deukmejian in 1989 she is the longest-serving justice sitting on the Court, having been retained by California's voters three times—first to fill the unexpired term in 1990, followed by second and third consecutive twelve-year terms in 1994 and 2006.
Kennard immigrated to Los Angeles in 1961. In 1974, she graduated with a Juris Doctor from the Gould School of Law at the University of Southern California, where she also earned a Bachelor's Degree in German and a Master of Public Administration. Born to a family of modest means, Kennard worked as a secretary to pay for her education.
Kennard's rise within the California court system...
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