Chief Justice Appoints Two Judges to New Terms on Judicial Council

Monday, April 18, 2011

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Chief Justice Appoints Two Judges to New Terms on Judicial Council

By a MetNews Staff Writer

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye on Friday reappointed Shasta Superior Court Judge Stephen H. Baker and Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Mary Ann O’Malley to three-year terms on the Judicial Council of California, a spokesperson said.

Their new three-year terms are slated to begin September 15.

Baker joined the Judicial Council last Sept. 15, completing the term of Tehama Superior Court Judge Dennis E. Murray, who retired before his term on the council expired.

O’Malley was appointed to the council in January to complete the last few months of the term of Los Angeles Superior Court Presiding Judge Lee Smalley Edmon.

Baker served on the council’s Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee from 2008 to 2010 and was a member of its executive committee.

He has also served on the Court Technology Advisory Committee, the Trial Court Budget Working Group, and various committees and working groups focused on judicial branch leadership, judicial education, and public outreach.

Appointed to the bench in 2003, Baker was elected as both assistant presiding judge and presiding judge of his court. From 2005 to 2008, he served in the superior court’s appellate division.

Before joining the bench, Baker practiced law for 17 years, specializing in employment/labor law and civil litigation. He also served as an administrative hearing officer and presented employment law seminars to a variety of public and private entities.

O’Malley previously served as a nonvoting advisory member, as a result of a one-year term as chair of the Trial Court Presiding Judges Advisory Committee.

She has served on the Trial Court Budget Working Group since 2009 and is a member of the Advisory Committee on Financial Accountability and Efficiency and the council’s Rules and Projects Committee. The judge is also a former member of the council’s Executive and Planning Committee.

In addition, O’Malley has served on the Advisory Committee on Criminal Jury Instructions, the Public Access Rule of Court Working Group, and the Judicial Recruitment and Retention Working Group.

She is an instructor at the B. E. Witkin Judicial College, New Judge Orientation, and the Continuing Judicial Studies Program of the Center for Judicial Education and Research (CJER) and serves on the CJER Criminal Law Education Committee and Criminal Law Curriculum Committee.

O’Malley was appointed to the bench in 1998. She was supervising judge of the court’s criminal division from 2005 to 2009 and was elected presiding judge in 2008.

She began her legal career as a law clerk for the district attorney’s offices in San Francisco and Contra Costa Counties and later served as deputy district attorney for Contra Costa County from 1985–1998.