APAs In The Judiciary Resource Page

One of AABA’s main goals from its inception has been to promote the appointment of more Asian Pacific Americans (APA) to the judicial bench.  AABA created this APAs In The Judiciary Resource Page to collect and publicize information and events regarding APAs in the judiciary.

News Articles and Editorials on APAs in the Judiciary

Judge Lucy H. Koh confirmed to Northern District of California - First APA Article III Judge in Northern District (June 7, 2010) - (NAPABA Press Release and other sources) - On June 7, 2010 the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed The Honorable Lucy H. Koh to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, making her the first Korean American U.S. District Court Judge in United States history and the first Asian Pacific American Article III judge in the 160-year history of the Northern District of California. Magistrate Judge Edward M. Chen, whose nomination to the Northern District of California is still pending, was the first Asian Pacific American judge to serve on the court.

“This is a historic achievement for the Asian Pacific American community,” said Joseph J. Centeno, president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. “The glaring absence of an Asian Pacific American Article III in the Northern District California for over 160 years makes Judge Koh’s confirmation very meaningful to our community.” For full article from NAPABA website, see Press Release.

Judge Denny Chin confirmed to Second Circuit Court of Appeals - First APA Federal Appellate Judge Outside of Ninth Circuit (April 22, 2010) - (From NAPABA) The U.S. Senate confirmed by a 98-0 vote the nomination of Judge Denny Chin (SDNY) to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, making him the only active Asian Pacific American federal appellate court judge, out of approximately 175 such judges. Judge Chin is the first Asian Pacific American federal appellate court judge to be nominated and confirmed outside of the Ninth Circuit, and only the fifth overall in U.S. history. It has been over five years since an Asian Pacific American has served anywhere in the country as an active federal appellate court judge. Judge Chin is the first Asian Pacific American to have been nominated to serve on a federal appellate court in 14 years. For full article from NAPABA website, see Press Release.

Vijay "Jay" C. Gandhi Sworn In As Magistrate Judge for the Central District of California
- (From NAPABA, April 14, 2010) Attorney Vijay "Jay" C. Gandhi, formerly a litigation partner at Paul Hastings LLP, was sworn in as a Magistrate Judge for the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Judge Gandhi is the first Indian American federal judge in the Central District and only the second Indian American federal judge in the history of the United States. At age 38, Judge Gandhi is also one of the youngest federal judges currently serving in the Central District. Judge Gandhi will sit in Los Angeles and will preside over matters arising from all three Divisions of the Court. The Central District of California is the largest district in the nation, serving more than 19 million people. For full article from NAPABA website, see Press Release.

President Obama Nominates Professor Goodwin Liu to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (February 24, 2010) - AABA congratulates Professor Goodwin Liu on his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. With Professor Liu’s nomination, President Obama nominates an individual dedicated to public service and a nationally recognized scholar. When confirmed, Professor Liu, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, would be the only active APA federal appellate court judge in the country. (SDNY Judge Denny Chin’s confirmation to the 2nd Circuit is currently pending in the US Senate, and Ninth Circuit Judge A. Wallace Tashima took senior status in 2004). Read Full Press Release.

Magistrate Judge Ed Chen Re-Nominated to Northern District Bench (Jan. 25, 2010) - President Obama re-nominated Magistrate Judge Ed Chen to the Northern District federal bench. Obama had earlier nominated Chen in August 2009, but the nomination was returned without the Senate acting upon the nomination. For more information, see FairJudges.net by the Asian Pacific Bar of California. AABA applauds President Barack Obama’s nomination of Magistrate Judge Edward M. Chen to serve as a federal district judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. AABA expresses its appreciation to U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who had forwarded the nomination to the White House. [Read More] [UPDATE: On February 5, 2010, the Senate Judiciary Committee again approved Chen's nomination (12-7) along party lines, see SFGate article. Chen's nomination will proceed to the full Senate].

For prior articles, click here.

AABA Judicial Mentorship Program

(Oct. 26, 2009) AABA and the Judiciary Committee proudly announces the kick-off of its first-ever Judicial Mentorship Program. The Program is designed to match sitting or retired APA judges in the state and federal judiciary with experienced individuals seriously contemplating applying for or being elected to a judgeship. AABA is fortunate to have judges from Alameda, San Francisco, and Santa Clara counties and the Northern District of California as mentors for this Program. Mentees include individuals in the private and government sectors.

Our general framework for the Program can be found here (pdf). If you are interested in being a mentor or mentee, please contact Salle Yoo or Avin Sharma.

Federal Courts

At the federal level, the number of Asian Pacific American judges is miniscule. In the Northern District of California, which includes San Francisco, Santa Clara, and Alameda counties among others, there has never been an Asian American district court judge pursuant to Article III of the U.S. Constitution. As to all Article III federal courts, the number of active Article III judges who are Asian Pacific American is:

• One in the Northern District of California
• One in the federal circuit courts of appeal
• Zero on the U.S. Supreme Court

For an explanation of Article III, click here.

State Courts

At the California state court level, as described in this 2005 op-ed by Jeff Adachi and Kathy Asada, many in the San Francisco legal community were outraged and disappointed that year when Governor Schwarzenegger failed to appoint an APA to the SF Superior Court to fill the seats formerly held by Judges Lenard Louie and Lillian Sing, two leading members of the APA community. At the time, this left the court with just four APAs on the bench, in a city that is almost one-third Asian American. AABA and other groups advocated for diversity on the bench. Since then Governor Schwarzenegger has appointed two APA judges to the court (Garrett Wong in 2005; Bruce Chan in 2009) and Judge Sing returned to the bench after election in 2006 (Editors Note: In 2009, Andrew Cheng and Samuel Feng were appointed to the SF bench. There are currently nine APA judges out of fifty-one on the SF Bench (18%).

Lists of Judges

What You Can Do

If diversifying the federal court in the Northern District of California, including appointment of an APA to the bench, is an important issue to you, please consider doing the following:

  • Send an email to Senators Feinstein and Boxer letting them know this is an important issue, letting them know that it is important for Asian Americans to be represented on the federal bench. For Senator Feinstein, click [here], and for Senator Boxer, click [here].

  • Become an AABA member and join our committees, including our Judiciary/Public Appointments Committee.

  • Support AABA, NAPABA, and other organizations seeking to diversify the judiciary.

  • Come to our Annual Dinner and other events to learn more.

The Numbers

  • Again, until Judge Lucy H. Koh was confirmed in June 2010, there had never been an Asian American federal district court judge (under Article III) appointed in the Northern District of California, a district which covers San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, and many other cities with large Asian American populations.

  • Of the approximately 810 active federal court judges (district court and appellate court judges under Article III), just over one percent are Asian Pacific American. Of the approximately 650 active federal district court judges (Article III) nationwide, there are only eleven who are Asian Pacific American – seven in California, two in New York, one in Hawaii, and one in Kentucky.

  • There is just one active Asian Pacific American judge, Judge Denny Chin of the Second Circuit, in the federal appellate courts which have approximately 165 judges. (Note: Judge A. Wallace Tashima, Ninth Circuit, is on senior status).

  • As of February 2010, in San Francisco, there are nine Asian Pacific American judges out of fifty-one judges (17.6 percent) on the Superior Court, although Asian Americans make up over 30 percent of the San Francisco population, according to 2000 census figures.

  • There are only four APA judges sitting on the California Court of Appeals, out of about 100 appellate judges. They are Justices Tani Cantil-Sakauye (3rd Dist.), Nathan Mihara (6th Dist.), Steven Suzukawa (2nd Dist.) and Kathryn Doi Todd (2nd Dist.).

  • According to 2000 census figures, Asian Pacific Americans (APAs) constituted about 4.2 percent of the national population, 12 percent of the population of California, and over 30 percent of the San Francisco population 2000 Census. By 2005, APAs made up 4.9% of the U.S. population, numbering 14.5 million in 2005. APAs in the legal profession number over 40,000, comprising slightly under 4% of legal professionals in the U.S. In addition, the APA legal community is the fastest growing nationwide (5.3% of lawyers at the nation’s largest law firms are APA; 6.3% of law students are APA). See NAPABA's APAs In the Judiciary Fact Sheet.

    Asian Americans made up about 6 percent of California attorneys in 2001.

    •

How to Become A Judge: The Judicial Nomination Process


PAGE TOP

Links and Features


 APA Federal Judges

Magistrate Judge Edward Chen is the first and APA judge to sit on the Northern District of California bench. Until the confirmation of Judge Lucy H. Koh in June 2010, there had never been an APA federal district court judge (Article III) in the Northern District despite its large APA population. [NOTE: On August 7, 2009, President Obama nominated Judge Chen to become an Article III judge. Read More. See FairJudges.net, by the Asian Pacific Bar of California, for more information about Chen's nomination.


Judge Kiyo Ann Matsumoto (E.D.N.Y.) was appointed to federal district court in 2008, becoming only the eighth active federal APA judge in the country, out of approximately 810 such judges (Article III judges). Judge Matsumoto, who grew up in Oakland, California and attended UC-Berkeley, also became only the second APA female federal judge (Article III) in history. The first was Judge Susan Oki Mollway (D. Hawaii), appointed in 1998.  (Photo credit: Pacific Citizen)




 APA California Judges

Judge Lillian Sing was first appointed to the San Francisco Superior Court in 1981.


Judge Tammy Chung Ryu (Los Angeles) is the first Korean American woman superior court judge in California.
(Photo: Asian Week)



An Indefensible Lack of Diversity

Read the 2009 editorial by fomer AABA President Celia Lee and Judge Ken Kawaichi (ret.) An Indefensible Lack of Diversity On The U.S. District Court. The editorial calls for the diversification of the federal bench, including the Northern District of California, where there has never been an Asian Pacific American judge (Article III) in the court's history despite the large Asian population in Northern California.

 Seeking APA Judges

Read Julie Soo's article Seeking APA Judges (2004). The article chronicles efforts by APA groups to have more APAs appointed to federal and state courts.

AABA Efforts

Representatives from AABA have met with the Governor's Judicial Appointments Secretary over the past several years regarding diversity on the state bench. In 2005, AABA held a press conference to advocate for the appointment of more APA attorneys to the SF Superior Court and other judicial positions.




The late Judge Lenard Louie, Judge Lillian Sing (San Francisco), and Judge Julie Tang (San Francisco) at the 2003 AABA annual installation dinner. There are currently nine APA judges on the SF bench of 51 total judges (2010).





California Supreme Court Justice Ming Chin (l) with (l to r) former AABA President Margaret Fujioka, Judge Keith Fudenna, Judge Cynthia Lee, Judge Joni Hiramoto, Gale Leong, and then AABA President Deanna Gan at the 1998 AABA annual installation dinner. (Photo: Julie Soo, originally in Asian Week)