Justice John Shepard Wiley Jr. faces a retention vote on the Nov. 3, 2026, ballot. Voters will decide whether to keep him on the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division 8.

The race is nonpartisan. A "yes" vote retains Wiley on the bench. A "no" vote removes him. He has been certified for the ballot, according to BallotReady election data.

Candidate information

  • Name: John Shepard Wiley Jr.
  • Office sought: California Court of Appeal associate justice, District 2, Division 8 (retention)
  • Party: Nonpartisan
  • Born: Iowa; moved to California at age 12 and attended public school through law school
  • Education: A.B., University of California, Davis; master of arts in economics, University of California, Berkeley; juris doctor, University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law

Experience and public service

Governor Jerry Brown appointed Wiley to the Court of Appeal on Nov. 27, 2018, succeeding Justice Laurence Rubin, according to the court's biography. The California Commission on Judicial Appointments confirmed the appointment on Dec. 21, 2018. He has served as an associate justice of Division 8 since then.

Before joining the appellate court, Wiley served as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge from 2002 to 2018, according to the American Law Institute. The institute lists that role as an elected office.

Wiley's legal career spans academia, private practice and public service. He was a tenured professor at UCLA School of Law from 1983 to 2005. While at UCLA, he won the university's Distinguished Teaching Award, according to the court's biography. He also taught at Harvard Law School, according to BallotReady.

Earlier in his career, Wiley clerked for Judge Frank M. Coffin on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, according to the American Law Institute. He also served as a law clerk for Lewis F. Powell Jr., according to BallotReady election data.

Wiley served as counsel to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary and as an assistant and special assistant U.S. attorney at the United States Attorney's Office. He worked as of counsel at the law firm Mayer, Brown & Platt and as an examiner at the California Commission on Judicial Performance, according to the American Law Institute.

Wiley was born in Iowa. When he was 12, his family moved to California, where he attended public school from junior high through law school, according to the court's biography.

No endorsements were supplied for this candidate. No issue-position responses were available for this profile. Candidate information is drawn from the California Courts website, the American Law Institute and BallotReady election data.