Practice
California State Criminal — Type A Three-Tier Unified
California is the canonical Type A example: three-tier unified system (Superior Court → Court of Appeal → California Supreme Court) with a single apex for both criminal and civil matters. Trial courts unified in 1998 — there are no separate municipal or justice courts. Judicial selection is merit-based rather than partisan, which produces meaningfully different institutional alignment than Texas-style statewide partisan election.
May 9, 2026