Candidate for
California State Court of Appeal; District 3

Associate Justice Tani Cantil Sakauye served 14 years as a judge on the Sacramento court. In 1990, Governor George Deukmejian appointed her to the Municipal Court, in 1997 Governor Pete Wilson elevated her to the Superior Court, and in 2005 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger nominated her to the Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District where she was unanimously confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments.

On the Sacramento court Justice Cantil Sakauye presided over both of civil and criminal assignments. In 1997, she started the first court in Sacramento dedicated solely to domestic violence issues. Her responsibilities on the Sacramento court included: Chair of the court's criminal law committee, a member of the presiding judge's task force on domestic violence, and a member of the Home Court committee.
Currently she serves on the Judicial Council's Task Force on Domestic Violence Practice and Procedure and Chair of the Best Practices Domestic Violence subcommittee. She is an advisory board member for The Volunteers in Parole program and is also a member of: the Anthony M. Kennedy Inn of Court; Women Lawyers of Sacramento; the Sacramento Asian Bar Association; and the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.
Born in 1959 in Sacramento, Justice Cantil Sakauye attended C. K. McClatchy High School, graduating in 1977, and Sacramento City College where she earned her A.A.degree in 1978. In college, Justice Cantil Sakauye discovered her interest in debate and public speaking and won many state and national awards. She received her B.A. from the University of California at Davis in 1980. After taking a year off to visit her ancestral homeland, the Philippines, Justice Cantil Sakauye entered law school in 1981. In 1984, she received her J.D. from the University of California at Davis, Martin Luther King Jr. School of Law. In 1984, she became a deputy district attorney for the Sacramento District Attorney's Office where she prosecuted a variety of criminal offenses. After the District Attorney's Office, she worked for Governor George Deukmejian in two consecutive capacities -- as deputy legal affairs secretary and then as a deputy legislative secretary.
She has received many awards including honors from the Sacramento Domestic Violence Coordinating Council, the 2005 President's Award from the Sacramento Asian Bar Association, the 2003 Trailblazer's award from the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the Filipina of the Year award and other awards from youth groups.

Justice Cantil Sakauye and her husband, police lieutenant Mark Sakauye, have two young daughters who are active in church, basketball, scouts and the arts. In her spare time, Justice Cantil-Sakauye enjoys running, reading and time permitting, golf.