Court Opinion

ID: 9847749
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-24 04:06:54.243671+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:17:31.121315
License: Public Domain

BIRD, C. J.
I concur in the majority opinion but I write separately to strongly dissent from the view of my colleague, Justice Newman, that this court use a unique interpretation of California Rules of Court, rule 29(a), to reduce the work of a justice.
To support his position, Justice Newman cites language from a 30-year-old case involving an interpretation as to what rule Congress intended the federal courts to use in weighing the adequacy of an administrative agency’s findings. Next, he suggests a “parallel rule” be *676applied by this court when deciding whether to grant or deny hearings. As an example, he denominates issues which involve a possible violation of the Bill of Rights embodied in our Constitution as “marginal matters.” He suggests that violations of these basic rights be reviewed by this court “only in what ought to be the rare instance when the standard appears to have been misapprehended or grossly misapplied.” (Cone, opn. by Newman, J., at p. 675.)
Such an interpretation ignores the central role of the judiciary in our system of government. To advocate that this court dismiss violations of the state and federal Constitutions as merely “marginal matters” and then to suggest that limitations be imposed on our responsibilities in those cases as a means of lightening this court’s workload cannot and should not go unchallenged. What price is this court being asked to pay for less work? Further, if this court is not the protector of the rights of our citizens under the Bill of Rights, who is?