President Bush on May 23 nominated Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, a former law professor at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, to fill the Ninth Circuit vacancy created when Judge Procter Hug Jr. took senior status Jan. 1. He became Bush's third nominee for the court.

One of his previous nominees, Hawaii attorney and Republican activist Richard R. Clifton, won unanimous approval from the Judiciary Committee earlier this month. Clifton would succeed Judge Cynthia Holcomb Hall, who took senior status Aug. 31, 1997.

There are two other vacancies on the 28-judge court. Judge James Browning took senior status Sept. 1 of last year, and the late Judge Charles E. Wiggins took senior status Dec. 31, 1996.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl was nominated for the Wiggins vacancy at the same time Clifton was nominated, but Kuhl has not received a confirmation hearing, reportedly because Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer will not sign a "blue slip." Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has declined to schedule confirmation hearings for judicial nominees without the approval of both senators from a nominee's home state.

Kuhl, 48, is a six-year veteran of the Superior Court bench. She previously served in the U.S. Department of Justice as a special assistant to Attorney General William French Smith, and worked in the office of the solicitor general during the Reagan administration.

President Clinton's nominees for the Hall and Wiggins seats, attorneys Joseph Duffy Jr. of Honolulu and Barry Goode of San Francisco, never received confirmation hearings. Goode now serves as legal affairs secretary to Gov. Gray Davis.

Los Angeles attorneys John Walter and Percy Anderson were confirmed by the Senate to fill two of the six vacancies on the court.

There are no vacancies.

There is one vacancy in newly created Div. Eight. The names of Los Angeles Superior Court Judges Charles Lee, Richard Rico, and Aurelio Munoz have been sent to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation as potential appointees to the post.

Fourth District

Divs. One and Div. Two each have a vacancy created by SB 1857, which took effect Jan. 1 of last year. Div. Three has a vacancy created by the June 1, 2001 retirement of Justice Thomas Crosby.

Fifth District

Fresno Superior Court Judge Gene Gomes faces a confirmation hearing in San Francisco today. If confirmed, he will fill a new position on the court.

Sixth District

Presiding Justice Christopher Cottle retired Aug. 31. Justice Patricia Bamattre-Manoukian is the acting presiding justice.

Seats in other districts are filled.

Gov. Gray Davis on May 22 named attorneys Amy Hogue, Gregory Keosian, and Charles Palmer to the court, leaving 17 vacancies.

Hogue replaces Judge Stephen O'Neill, who passed away last July. Keosian succeeds Judge Patrrick Couwenberg, who was removed Aug. 15 by the Commission on Judicial Performance. Palmer fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Kurt Lewin last Aug. 16.

The most recent openings resulted from the May 10 resignation of Judge Debra Yang, who became U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, and the retirement of Judge Ann Kough May 15.

Judge J.D. Smith retired April 4 and Judge James Albracht April 6.

Judge Jerold Krieger died Feb. 15. Judges Michael Pirosh and John Gunn retired in February. Judges David Finkel and Elvira Austin retired in January.

Five judges who retired last year have not been replaced. Elva Soper left office Oct. 1, David Perez Oct. 6, Richard Charvat Nov. 5, James Simpson-retired for disability-Dec. 10, and Harold Shabo Dec. 31.

Three judges were elevated last year to the Court of Appeal-Laurence Rubin on Oct. 22, Paul Boland on Nov. 21, and Judith Ashmann-Gerst on Dec. 7.

Further vacancies are scheduled with the retirements of Judge Leslie Light tomorrow, Judge Thomas R. Simpson July 1, and Judge Theodore D. Piatt July 31.

The court is without the services of Judge Robert Sandoval, who is suffering from liver cancer; Judge Pamela Rogers, who had neck surgery last October and is tentatively expected to return to her Lancaster courtroom July 1; and Judge Juleann Cathey, who has applied for disability retirement.

Retired Judge Lillian Stevens is filling in for Sandoval in Burbank.

Jane Godfrey, formerly a referee, and Michael Levanas, an attorney in private practice, were elected commissioners earlier this month. A runoff for a third position pits Deputy Federal Public Defender Richard Novak against Referee Guillermina Gutierrez Byrne, with ballots to be tallied next month.

The three new commissioners fill vacancies resulting from the retirements of Commissioners Linda Elliott, Jeffrey Castner, and David Stephens, all on March 31.

Commissioner Ernest Lopez has scheduled retirement for June 24.

The following legislation was acted upon by the Legislature in May:

•AB 1970, by Assemblywoman Barbara Matthews, D-Stockton, which would exempt parole officers, probation officers and prison guards from jury duty. The bill was approved by the Assembly on a 61-10 vote May 16, and was referred to the Senate Public Safety and Judiciary committees.

•AB 2055, by Assemblyman Robert Pacheco, R-City of Industry, which would eliminate the "work product" protection for lawyers "when a lawyer is suspected of crime or fraud in any official investigation or proceeding or action brought by a public prosecutor ... if the services of the lawyer were sought or obtained to enable or aid anyone to commit or plan to commit a crime or fraud." The bill was approved May 14 by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on a 5-0 vote, passed the Assembly on a 75-0 vote May 20, and was sent to the Senate.

•AB 2104, by Assemblyman Rod Pacheco, R-City of Industry, which would provide that there is no statute of limitations for prosecution for specified acts of terrorism. On a 2-2 vote, the bill failed to pass the Assembly Public Safety Committee on May 7.

•AB 2106, by Assemblyman Russ Bogh, R-Yucaipa, which would provide that when multiple criminal offenses occur in more than one jurisdictional territory, and the offenses are part of a single scheme or terrorist attack, the jurisdiction of any of those offenses is in any jurisdiction where at least one of those offenses occurred. The bill passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee on a 5-0 vote May 7, passed the Assembly on a 71-0 vote May 16 and was sent to the Senate Public Safety Committee.

•AB 2211, by Assemblyman Jerome Horton, D-Inglewood, which would provide a procedure for a "representative of the community affected by the crime" to make an impact statement at a criminal sentencing hearing. The bill passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee on a 5-0 vote May 7, passed the Assembly on a 70-2 vote May 16 and was sent to the Senate Public Safety Committee.

•AB 2238, by Assemblyman Richard Dickerson, R-Redding, which would prohibit any person from knowingly posting personal information about a judge or other public official - or the official's spouse or child - on the Internet knowing that person is an elected or appointed official and intending or threatening imminent physical harm to that individual. It also would require the Judicial Council to file a report with the Legislature on how to protect a public safety official's home information. The bill was approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on a 23-0 vote May 23, passed the Assembly on a 72-0 vote May 28 and was sent to the Senate.

•AB 2263, by Assemblywoman Christine Kehoe, D-San Diego, which would require the Judicial Council to study the effectiveness of expanding the Kids' Turn program, which assists children while their parents are in family court obtaining a divorce or legal separation. The bill was approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on a 23-0 vote May 15, passed the Assembly on a 72-2 vote May 23 and was sent to the Senate.

•AB 2690, by Assemblyman Dennis Cardoza, D-Turlock, which would require the Judicial Council to select a superior court in each of five counties to provide the state auditor with annual financial statements. The bill was approved by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on a 24-0 vote May 22, passed the Assembly on May 29, and was sent to the Senate.

•ACA 15 , by by Assemblyman Howard Wayne, D-San Diego, a proposed constitutional amendment to delete obsolete references to the municipal courts from the California Constitution. The measure passed the Assembly on a 72-0 vote May 9, and was sent to the Senate.

•SB 1316, by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which would make numerous changes in the law to account for the abolition of the municipal courts. The bill passed the Senate on a 38-0 vote May 23 and was sent to the Assembly.

•SB 1396, by Sen. Joseph Dunn, D-Garden Grove, which would enact the Superior Court Law Enforcement Act of 2002, which among other things would require the presiding judge of any county to develop an annual court security plan. The bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 7-0 vote May 13, passed the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 12-0 vote May 28, and was sent to the Senate floor.

•SB 1459, by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Monterey Park, which, among other things, would make any person who has resigned from the State Bar, regardless of whether charges were pending, guilty of a crime if that person advertises or holds himself out as being entitled to practice law. The bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 5-1 vote May 2, passed the Senate Public Safety Committee on a 5-0 vote May 16 and was referred to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

•SB 1604, by by Sen. Ross Johnson, R-Irvine, which would institute a procedure in which jury commissioners and county elections officials would share information, and election officials would cancel the voter registration of any person who returned a jury summons indicating he or she is not a U.S. citizen. The bill was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 12-0 vote May 6, passed the Senate on a 38-0 vote May 16 and was sent to the Assembly Elections, Reapportionment and Constitutional Amendments Committee.

•SB 1628, by Sen. Byron Sher, D-San Jose, which would require a court to award reasonable attorney's fees to an attorney general, district attorney or city attorney who prevails in a civil action to enforce an environmental law. The bill was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on a 5-1 vote May 22, and was sent to the Senate Appropriations Committee.

•SB 1732, by Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Montebello, which would increase a variety of court fees and parking fines to provide money for courthouse maintenance and construction. The bill was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on a 8-2 vote May 24, passed the Senate on a 24-10 vote May 28 and was sent to the Assembly.