superior judges;1 and one, two, or three attorneys appointed by the supervisors, the number depending upon the number of judges on the board. The trustees appoint a librarian and other necessary help, purchase suitable books and periodicals, and establish rules for the management of the library. 212. The Higher State Courts. 1. The District Courts of Appeal. The state is divided into three appellate court districts,2 and a court consisting of three justices is provided for each district. One of these courts is located in San Francisco, one in Los Angeles, and one in Sacramento, these three cities being in different districts. The justices of each court are elected, each for a term of twelve years, by the voters of the district, one of the three being chosen at every general state election. Each justice receives a salary of $7000 a year. Vacancies are filled by the governor until the next election. One of the justices in each district is the presiding justice. Each court appoints a clerk, a deputy clerk, a bailiff, and other necessary attendants as provided by law.

Although each court is open at all times for the filing of papers and for the transaction of business at chambers,4 only four regular sessions for the submission of new cases on appeal are held each year.5 Every such session lasts four or five days, and only those cases may be submitted that have been previously placed on the calendar. In addi

1 If a county has one, two, or three judges, each one is a member of the board. If there are more than three, they select three of their number to serve as members. 2 See section 4, article VI of the constitution.

3 He is elected as the presiding justice by the people.

4 Business that any judge is authorized to transact at other times than at formal sessions of the court, such as to issue writs of habeas corpus.

'In January, April, August, and November.

Cases are submitted by attorneys employed by interested parties, or by district attorneys. The submission of a case means the presentation of the record from the

tion, the court convenes on the fourth Monday of each month to consider applications for such writs as it is authorized to issue, and to hear any motions that litigants may wish to make relative to cases that have been submitted at regular sessions. All three judges must be present at every session. The balance of their time is occupied in considering cases that have been submitted and in writing decisions.

After a case has been submitted, the presiding justice either takes it under consideration and writes his opinion upon it, or assigns it for that purpose to one of the other justices. Such an opinion when signed by all three justices becomes the decision of the court. Any decision of a district court of appeal is final, as far as that court is concerned, in thirty days; but during the next period of thirty days the supreme court may consent to review it. This action on the part of the supreme court suspends the decision; but the supreme court may later confirm it, or may modify or reverse it. If the supreme court does not consent to review an appellate court decision between the thirtyfirst and sixtieth day inclusive after it is rendered, it is as if it had been rendered by the supreme court. The supreme court may take a case out of the hands of any district court of appeal before a decision is rendered and may hear the case itself, or may transfer it to another district court of appeal.

2. The Supreme Court. The state supreme court consists of one chief justice and six associate justices, elected by the state at large, each for a term of twelve years. Two

lower court, together with the written arguments, or "briefs," of attorneys, accompanied by such oral arguments as they are able to present in the time granted by the court.

1 The fourth Monday of each month is called the "regular motion day."

associate justices are elected at every gubernatorial election, and a chief justice will be elected in 1914. Each justice receives a salary of $8000 a year. Vacancies are filled by the governor until the next election. The court appoints a clerk, a chief deputy clerk, six deputy clerks, two secretaries, two bailiffs, a librarian for the supreme court library, a reporter and an assistant reporter of the decisions. of the supreme court and of the district courts of appeal, and other necessary attendants as provided by law.

The court holds regular sessions in San Francisco beginning on the second Monday in January and on the third Monday in July; in Los Angeles beginning on the first Monday in April and on the second Monday in October; and in Sacramento beginning on the first Monday in May and on the second Monday in November. At these sessions cases on appeal from the superior courts are submitted, as well as cases that have been decided in district courts of appeal and are to be reviewed by the supreme court.1 Special sessions are held at the same places from time to time to hear applications for writs and to consider motions affecting cases that have been submitted at regular sessions. A regular session usually lasts four or five days; and a special session, one or two. Except when holding sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento, the justices spend most of their time in San Francisco, considering cases that have been submitted and writing decisions.

When in session, the court may sit in bank or in departments. Each department consists of three associate jus

1 The state is divided into supreme court districts known as the San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Sacramento districts. A case from a superior court may be submitted to the supreme court only when the latter is sitting in the same district; but a case from any district court of appeal may be submitted at any session of the supreme court.

tices designated by the chief justice, one of whom is chosen by the other two to act as presiding justice. The chief justice presides over the court in bank, and over either department when he is present,1 and apportions the work to the departments and to the court in bank. After a case has been assigned to a department, he, or any four justices, may transfer it to the court in bank before a decision has been reached.

The supreme court arrives at its decisions in the same manner as the district courts of appeal; that is, after a case is submitted at any session, it is assigned to one of the justices, who considers it between sessions and writes his opinion upon it. The opinion is then passed to the other two justices, if the case is a "department case," or to all the remaining justices, if it is a "bank case." Three must concur in a department decision, and four in a decision of the court in bank. A decision of the court in bank becomes final in thirty days after it is rendered.3 A decision of a department becomes final at once if approved by the chief justice and two associates; 4 otherwise it becomes final in thirty days, if, during that time, the case is not ordered to be submitted to the court in bank at a subsequent session. This may be done by

1 This practically never occurs except when one of the associate justices is absent. 2 This is usually done in San Francisco.

This is a provision of law, not of the constitution. During the thirty days the court may reconsider the case if it so desires. No case may be appealed from the state to the national supreme court unless the question at issue involves the national Constitution, a national law, or a treaty.

4 This makes it possible for a department decision to become final sooner than a bank decision, for the latter cannot become final until thirty days after it is rendered. (Code of Civil Procedure, § 45.) This is clearly an anomalous situation, but no confusion arises from it for the reason that the chief justice almost never signs a department decision. He has done so only two or three times in ten years.

the chief justice and two associates, or by four associates, and such an order sets aside the department decision.

3. The Jurisdiction of the Higher Courts. - The jurisdiction of the supreme court and of the district courts of appeal is stated technically in the constitution. It may be indicated in simple form as follows:

a. Appellate.

The most important duty of these courts is to decide cases that are appealed from the superior courts, and by far the greater part of their time is devoted to this work. The constitution mentions certain kinds of cases which, if appealed at all from the superior courts, must go to the supreme court. The most important are: cases in equity, cases at law involving the title to real estate, or involving any claim or property equal in value to $2000, probate cases, and questions of law alone in capital criminal cases. Other cases, when appealed, must go to the district courts of appeal. The supreme court may transfer any case that has been appealed to it to one of the dis-. trict courts of appeal; and, as previously stated, it may take any case out of the hands of any of the appellate courts before a decision is reached. It is, therefore, possible for any case to be decided on appeal by any of the higher courts. Since any decision rendered by a district court of appeal may be reviewed by the supreme court, the decisions of all these courts are likely to be harmonious and consistent.

b. Original. The only original jurisdiction possessed by the supreme court and the district courts of appeal is their power to issue writs of mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, and habeas corpus. To issue one of these writs is an exer

1 Section 4, article VI.