Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Chief Justice of California. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi / ALM

In her first public comments since George Floyd's death in Minnesota roiled the nation, California Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye said Monday she is "deeply disturbed" by the "action and inaction" that led to his death and others.

"Justice is the first need addressed by the people in the preamble of our nation's Constitution," Cantil-Sakauye wrote in a statement. "As public servants, judicial officers swear an oath to protect and defend the constitution.

"We must continue to remove barriers to access and fairness—to address conscious and unconscious bias, and yes, racism. All of us, regardless of gender, race, creed, color, sexual orientation or identity, deserve justice," she continued.

Cantil-Sakauye's hometown of Sacramento has been the center of days of protests since Floyd died in police custody May 25. The marches and rallies were similar to those held in the capital city in 2018 after Sacramento police shot and killed Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old African American man in his grandmother's backyard.

"Our civil and constitutional rights are more than a promise, a pledge, or an oath—we must enforce these rights equally," Cantil-Sakauye said. "Being heard is only the first step to action as we continue to strive to build a fairer, more equal and accessible justice system for all."

The chief justice, the first Asian American to lead California's judiciary, has been outspoken in her calls for civil rights and greater racial equality during her tenure. Her State of the Judiciary in March noted that state leaders recently apologized to Japanese Americans, including her husband's parents, for helping the federal government send them to internment camps during World War II.

Cantil-Sakauye has also been an advocate for implicit bias training for both judges and employees of the Judicial Council.

The chief justice's statement follows an extraordinary letter that was issued by the nine justices of Washington's supreme court June 5. The court called on lawyers to take a greater role in confronting racial injustices.

"Recent events have brought to the forefront of our collective consciousness a painful fact that is, for too many of our citizens, common knowledge: the injustices faced by black Americans are not relics of the past," the justices said in their letter. "We continue to see racialized policing and the overrepresentation of black Americans in every stage of our criminal and juvenile justice systems. Our institutions remain affected by the vestiges of slavery: Jim Crow laws that were never dismantled and racist court decisions that were never disavowed."

Justices in Georgia and Alaska also issued statements in recent days acknowledging the public pain and anger generated by Floyd's death.

"We recognize that too often African-Americans, Alaska Natives, and other people of color are not treated with the same dignity and respect as white members of our communities," the Alaska chief justice, and three colleagues, said in their public letter. "And we recognize that as community members, lawyers, and especially as judicial officers, we must do more to change this reality."

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