Voice for Equality: Justice Carlos Moreno

Carlos R. Moreno is a Mexican-American jurist. When he began his current role as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California in 2001, Justice Carlos Moreno chose to relinquish his lifetime seat on the U.S. District Court where he had presided over a broad range of complex civil and criminal matters following his appointment in 1998 by President Bill Clinton. With his appointment to the Supreme Court of California, he became only the third judge of Hispanic heritage to serve in the Court's nearly 150-year history, and the first in more than a decade. Justice Moreno began his years of service in the judiciary with his appointment in 1986 to the Municipal Court, Compton Judicial District. In that capacity, he adjudicated criminal matters, with an emphasis on serious felony offenses, and supervised the court's civil department until 1993, when he was elevated to the Los Angeles County Superior Court, where he presided over felony trials. Justice Moreno is unique in that he has been nominated to judgeships by four different appointing executive authorities: two Democrat and two Republican. This is a testament to his fairness and impartiality in the view of many observers. Learn more here.

Moreno was one of four state Supreme Court justices to uphold marriage equality in California in 2008, and he was the sole dissenting justice in Strauss v. Horton which challenged the constitutionality of the Prop 8 vote. He stated to The Recorder, San Francisco's legal newspaper, on July 27, 2009:

Someday, at some point, my dissent will be the majority view in California. I think that's where the law is headed. Equal protection is either equal or it's not. It's not the kind of thing you can chip away at. [Link]

Freedom to Marry salutes Justice Carlos Moreno as a Voice for Equality!

If you're inspired by Justice Moreno's words and support...take action! Link to No on 1/Protect Maine Equality to find out how you can help with the vital work of preserving marriage equality in Maine!

**Make your NOMINATION for a Voice for Equality today!