CALIFORNIANS WANT TO PUT VICTIMS FIRST.
JUSTICE KELLI EVANS HAS OTHER PRIORITIES.
Californians overwhelmingly support a justice system that holds serious and repeat offenders accountable and puts victims first.
On the state's highest court, Justice Kelli Evans has done the opposite. In a single year, she went on record more than 60 times to try to reopen criminal cases that courts had already decided – including those with violent and heinous crimes. Five of her six colleagues earned the State Bar's top rating; she didn't. That record is why we're voting No.
Look for the retention question near the bottom of your ballot.
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JUSTICE EVANS PUTS CRIMINALS AHEAD
OF VICTIMS AND THEIR FAMILIES
In a single year on the California Supreme Court, Justice Evans went on record 63 times to reopen sometimes unspeakable criminal cases that juries and appeals courts had already decided and upheld. California's Chief Justice did it zero times. Each time a settled case is reopened, victims' families are pulled back into court, again and again, to relive the worst day of their lives.
The number of times criminal cases were reopened during the year
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63
TIMES BY JUSTICE EVANS
0
TIMES BY CHIEF JUSTICE
Source: dissents from denial of review in criminal cases, 2024-25 term.
CASE IN POINT
Upheld for Four Decades. She Still Wanted It Reopened.
In 1981, a 77-year-old man was bound, gagged and killed during a robbery in Los Angeles County. A jury convicted his killer of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to life without parole. Since 2021, the case has gone through a resentencing petition, three Court of Appeal rulings and a Supreme Court remand, and every court upheld the result.
In 2025, Justice Evans wrote that the Court should take it up yet again, calling the outcome a "miscarriage of justice."
(People v. Gray, Court of Appeal B330525)
A Violent Record Should Not Be Rewritten.
Another man had three prior serious felonies and was on parole for burglary when he burglarized a home and attempted another, with people present both times.
In April 2026, Justice Evans voted for the Supreme Court to hear his bid to have his prior strikes thrown out.
(People v. Grandberry, S295461)
Victims deserve closure, not a judge who keeps looking for ways to reopen their cases.
Rewriting a record of repeated violence does not undo the harm caused. It gives the criminal a clean slate.
“My brother Frank was murdered in 1974. We have now spent the last 52 years facing his killer at 17 parole hearings. Every time the courts reopen his killer's case, we get dragged back to that night, again and again. That isn’t justice for victims. It’s a life sentence for us. Families who lose someone to cancer or a car accident get to grieve and heal. We want to be allowed to heal too, but the courts have not shown us that mercy."
– Eric Carlson
whose brother Frank was murdered in San Francisco in 1974. Frank’s wife, Annette, survived rape, torture and an attempt to burn their home. After the killer’s death sentence was converted to life without parole, the family endured 17 parole hearings. An 18th is scheduled for April 2027.
JUSTICE EVANS UNDERCUTS THE OFFICERS WHO KEEP US SAFE
A man shot a police officer, and Justice Evans voted to give him another chance in court. Evans has placed additional obstacles in the way of legitimate police work, including reducing accountability for people who deliberately make false accusations against law enforcement. People who knowingly make false complaints about officers used to face consequences, and Justice Evans voted to end that. Californians deserve judges who put public safety first.
CASE IN POINT
He Shot at First Responders. She Voted to Hear His Appeal.
In 2021, a gunman fired on CAL FIRE officers, led a high-speed chase across Tulare County, fired at sheriff's deputies, and shot a CHP officer in the shoulder. A jury found him sane, convicted him of five counts of attempted murder and more, and he was sentenced to 208 years to life. The Court of Appeal applied settled law and upheld the verdict.
In June 2026, Justice Evans voted for the Supreme Court to hear his appeal anyway.
(People v. Chang, S296486)
False Complaints Against Officers Just Got Easier.
Justice Evans joined a ruling striking down the state law that warned people they could be prosecuted for filing knowingly false misconduct complaints against officers. These decisions undermine trust in law enforcement by casting doubt on legitimate police actions. (LAPPL v. City of Los Angeles, S275272, 2025)
Californians want accountability for those who attack officers and endanger our neighborhoods. Justice Evans's record points the other way.
DO YOU REALLY WANT A JUSTICE WHO PUTS YOU SECOND?
A 12-YEAR TERM
ON CALIFORNIA'S
HIGHEST COURT IS
NO PLACE FOR
ON-THE-JOB TRAINING
California's Supreme Court sets the rules for every courtroom, prosecutor and police agency in the state. Justice Evans was nominated after only 10 months as a trial judge, and the State
Bar's evaluators rated her a step below most of the justices she serves with.
Only 10 months as a trial judge before her nomination. She took the Alameda County bench on Oct. 4, 2021, and was nominated to the Supreme Court on Aug. 10, 2022. California deserves experienced judges.
A lower State Bar rating than her colleagues. Five of the six justices she serves with earned the State Bar's top rating. She did not.
OFFICERS
ANSWER FOR
EVERY DECISION.
JUSTICES SHOULD TOO.
California's peace officers are held to strict standards of transparency and accountability, and we believe the state's highest court should be too. PORAC, representing nearly 90,000 public safety professionals spanning every county, is committed to elevating the issues before the California Supreme Court and giving Californians a clear, honest look at how their justice system is working.
California Supreme Court justices are nominated or appointed by the governor, but voters get to say whether they keep the job. They face a retention vote in the next gubernatorial election following their appointment and subsequent retention votes only
once every 12 years. This is that moment for Justice Evans.