Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, First District, Division Four: Shall Presiding Justice TRACIE L. BROWN be elected to the office for the term provided by law?
Source: electionresults.sos.ca.gov
What does this office do?
- Deciding what state laws and the state constitution mean
- Setting rulings that lower state courts must follow
- Deciding major criminal and civil cases
Affects: Public Safety and Crime Control, Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties, Gun Control,
Tracie L. Brown
Nonpartisan · Incumbent · Official site
Brown is presiding justice of Division Four of California's First District Court of Appeal. She joined the appellate court in 2018 after five years on the San Francisco Superior Court and previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
Track record
Track record — General
General · 4 records
Was unanimously confirmed and sworn in as presiding justice of the First District Court of Appeal, Division Four.
April 7, 2023
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Was appointed an associate justice of the First District Court of Appeal, Division Four.
November 1, 2018
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Was appointed to the San Francisco County Superior Court.
January 1, 2013
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Began serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California.
January 1, 2002
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Track record — Legal Competence
Legal Competence · 26 favorable
Authored Carroll v. City and County of San Francisco, rejecting age-discrimination challenges to a disability-retirement-benefit formula after trial.
January 14, 2026Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Authored People v. Cagle, affirming an extended mental-health commitment and rejecting unpreserved due-process and equal-protection claims.
January 8, 2026Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Joined Estate of Bodmann, affirming probate orders based on the trial court's credibility findings and application of administrator-removal standards.
November 21, 2025Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Authored Mass v. Regents, affirming judgment that a university retirement plan did not require retroactive benefits and that the Regents breached no fiduciary duty.
October 28, 2025Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Authored X.K. v. M.C., ordering a new domestic-violence restraining-order hearing under the proper abuse definition and totality-of-circumstances standard.
July 24, 2025Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Authored Lara v. California Insurance Company, upholding a state conservatorship after an insurer entered a major transaction without required approval.
July 23, 2025Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Joined Allison v. Dignity Health, affirming decertification of a nurse wage-and-hour class for lack of predominating common issues.
June 24, 2025Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Authored In re L.B., conditionally reversing termination of parental rights because agencies failed to inquire with extended family about possible Native American ancestry.
December 29, 2023Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Was unanimously confirmed and sworn in as presiding justice of the First District Court of Appeal, Division Four.
April 7, 2023Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Authored People v. Sifuentes, affirming denial of murder resentencing and finding no prejudice from victim-impact statements heard before the ruling.
September 13, 2022Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Authored People v. Harrell, rejecting misdemeanor reclassification of repeat identity-information offenses but striking obsolete prison-term enhancements.
August 10, 2020Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Joined In re Haden, denying habeas relief because a new restriction on judicial factfinding did not apply retroactively to a final conviction.
June 5, 2020Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Authored Cheema v. L.S. Trucking, resolving consolidated contract and wage disputes involving an independent truck subhauler.
October 7, 2019Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Authored People v. Brown, ordering reduction of a receiving-stolen-property conviction to a misdemeanor because values from separate transactions could not be aggregated.
February 27, 2019Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: law.justia.com
Was appointed an associate justice of the First District Court of Appeal, Division Four.
November 1, 2018Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Presided over criminal cases, including the San Francisco Superior Court's Domestic Violence Court.
January 1, 2013Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Began teaching trial advocacy at UC Berkeley School of Law.
January 1, 2013Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Helped secure a successful federal trial against an online pill mill that unlawfully distributed millions of controlled-substance doses.
January 1, 2013Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Was twice elected to the San Francisco Superior Court Executive Committee.
January 1, 2013Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Was appointed to the San Francisco County Superior Court.
January 1, 2013Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Began serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California.
January 1, 2002Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Represented San Francisco's Japanese American community in extensive pro bono litigation.
January 1, 2002Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Tried civil and criminal cases to verdict and argued cases before the Ninth Circuit as a federal prosecutor.
January 1, 2002Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Clerked for Judge M. Margaret McKeown on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
January 1, 1998Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Practiced law as an associate at Cooley.
January 1, 1997Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Practiced law as an associate at Morrison & Foerster.
January 1, 1996Favorable on Legal Competence
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Track record — Candidate Ethics
Candidate Ethics · 2 records
Authored Lara v. California Insurance Company, upholding a state conservatorship after an insurer entered a major transaction without required approval.
July 23, 2025
Source: law.justia.com
Was twice elected to the San Francisco Superior Court Executive Committee.
January 1, 2013
Source: appellate.courts.ca.gov
Source: elections.cdn.sos.ca.gov