African-American prosecutor named to California Supreme Court

By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California Governor Jerry Brown nominated a 38-year old U.S. Department of Justice attorney for the California Supreme Court on Monday, continuing his reshaping of the top court in the nation's most populous state. Leondra Kruger would replace Associate Justice Joyce Kennard, who retired earlier this year, the governor said in a statement. Kruger has been a deputy assistant attorney general at the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel since 2013. Before that, she worked in the Solicitor General's office and in private practise. Kruger is Brown's third nomination to the California Supreme Court since he was elected in 2010. Brown has prized youth and diversity on the state's high court, nominating an Asian-American and Mexican-American before Kruger, who would be the court's only African-American if confirmed.