Leondra Kruger

Leondra Reid Kruger (born July 28, 1976) is an American judge who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California. A native of South Pasadena, California, she graduated from Harvard College and Yale Law School. Kruger then clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, and subsequently worked in private practice and as a professor. She served as acting Principal Deputy Solicitor General of the United States from 2010 to 2011, and worked in the Office of Legal Counsel. In 2014, California Governor Jerry Brown nominated Kruger to a seat on the Supreme Court of California. She was confirmed, and was sworn in on January 5, 2015. Kruger was considered a potential nominee for the Supreme Court of the United States, following the announcement of Justice Stephen Breyer's intention to retire in 2022. Early life and education Born in Glendale, California, Kruger grew up in South Pasadena. Her mother, Audrey Reid, immigrated to the United States from Jamaica, and her late father, Leon Kruger, was an American Jew whose parents had immigrated to the U.S. from Europe. Kruger's parents were both pediatricians. She attended Polytechnic School in Pasadena, California, and was a National Merit Scholar. She then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree magna cum laude from Harvard University, where she wrote for The Harvard Crimson and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She then attended Yale Law School, graduating in 2001 with a Juris Doctor. Kruger served as editor-in-chief of the Yale Law Journal, and was the first Black woman ever to hold the position. Legal career