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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — It’s difficult to find anyone with a gripe against Tani Cantil-Sakauye, the daughter of a plantaion worker from Hawaii. Even two former boyfriends couldn’t think of one negative thing to say about the woman destined to become California’s next Supreme Court chief justice.
"She always wanted to study and I always wanted to go out," said Sacramento City Councilman Rob Fong in an attempt to relay a flaw from when the two dated in law school. "It’s pretty obvious how that’s worked out for us."
The likability of Cantil-Sakauye will serve the 50-year-old well at the helm of the largest judicial system in the world, with more than 1,700 judges, 4,000 court commissioners, 21,000 court employees and a $4 billion budget.
She is expected to be confirmed Aug. 25 by the Commission on Judicial Appointments and approved by voters in November to become the second woman and the first racial minority to hold the position of California chief justice.
"She’s one of those genuinely special people who is just great to be around," said her high school senior prom date Jim Lyons, who became a physical therapist and general manager of an advertising company. "She can find the good in anybody."
Cantil-Sakauye (pronounced cahn-TEEL sah-kah-OO-way) is now married to Sacramento Police Lt. Mark Sakauye — whose parents were interned during World War II — with two daughters, ages 14 and 11.
She credits her commitment to public service to her modest roots: Her Filipino Portuguese father grew up working the sugar and pineapple plantations of Hawaii and her Filipino mother sorted tomatoes and picked figs in California’s Central Valley.
They supported their four children with jobs as an instrument repairman at McClellan Air Force Base and an executive secretary for the state Department of Corrections, said Cantil-Sakauye’s mother, Mary Gorre Cantil.
Cantil still seems surprised at her daughter’s ascent to the pinnacle of the judicial system but wouldn’t expect less.
"We told all our children, ‘If you have a job as a janitor, you do the best you can. Whatever you do, you do a good job,’ " she recalled.
Lyons met Cantil-Sakauye at California Middle School and remembers how she was kind to all regardless of their economics or race.
"People start to find cliques and identify with social groups," he said. "Tani wasn’t like that — it was not in Tani’s interest to look out for the poorest kid in the neighborhood but it was Tani’s way to do just that."
Cantil-Sakauye was a cheerleader, participated in student government and was voted homecoming queen her senior year at McClatchy High School. Still, she wasn’t predicted to be most likely to succeed upon graduation; instead, she was awarded the title of prettiest eyes.
"She deflects (being) the center and brings attention to others," Lyons said. "It’s her genius."
After stints at Sacramento City College and what is now California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Cantil-Sakauye graduated from the University of California, Davis, with a degree in rhetoric and a place on the dean’s list in 1980. She helped fund her schooling by restaurant waitressing.
She has said her interest in law was sparked when she found her mother’s elbow jabbed into her side at a Filipino community event in which they met Gloria Megino Ochoa, the first female Filipino American to graduate from the UC Davis School of Law.
"You could do that too," Cantil-Sakauye has recalled her mother saying.
"It’s just amazing to me with her schedule, work, extracurricular activities, and her kids and husband, that she finds the time to still connect with the (Filipino) community," said Ochoa, now retired as deputy chief counsel for the state Senate Judiciary Committee. "But she does and then she remembers to ask you about your personal life."
Cantil-Sakauye helped pay for her law degree from UC Davis, which she earned in 1984, dealing blackjack in Reno and Tahoe. She then worked for the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office prosecuting traffic, juvenile and felony cases, before moving on to the office of Gov. George Deukmejian — first as his deputy legal affairs secretary and later as his deputy legislative secretary.
Deukmejian appointed her to be a Sacramento Municipal Court judge in 1990. She had just turned 31.
"She has a unique blend of experience with all three branches of government," said retiring Chief Justice Ronald George, who recommended her nomination to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
But mostly, Cantil-Sakauye is someone who can bring people together, an important asset for a position that has become one-third casework and two-thirds administrative, George said.
"I was struck by the fact that she has a tremendous ability to get along with people and build consensus," George said. "And at the same, while being a diplomatic and pleasant person, she has a backbone of steel — she is a strong woman with a strong commitment to the administration of justice."
(E-mail reporter Gina Kim at gkim(at)sacbee.com.)
