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Liu Sworn In To California Supreme Court

SACRAMENTO (AP) -- Gov. Jerry Brown has sworn in UC Berkeley law professor Goodwin Liu to the California Supreme Court, just three months after Liu withdrew from consideration for a seat on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Brown says the appointment of Liu, whose parents came to the U.S. from Taiwan, shows the progress California has made since anti-Chinese laws were enacted in the 19th century.

Four of the seven justices are of full or partial Asian descent, while three are white. Brown said the progress would make politicians who once preached racial intolerance "turn over in their respective graves."

After taking the oath Thursday, Liu thanked supporters who stood by him as Republican U.S. senators blocked his appointment to the federal bench over his criticism of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito.

Liu, 40, spent most of his childhood in Sacramento, graduating from Rio Americano High School in 1985.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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