Today, U.S. Rep. Judy Chu, Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, issued a
statement commending President Obama on his success in confirming Asian Pacific Americans to the federal bench, nearly doubling the number of APA judges serving in the federal courts from 8 to 14 judges:
I want to sincerely thank and congratulate President Obama for all his hard work and many successes in promoting highly qualified Asian Pacific American nominees to the federal bench. Since January 2009, the Obama Administration has put forth the most diverse pool of judicial nominees in American history, ensuring that the federal judiciary fully represents the American people, including the more than 17 million Asian Pacific Americans in our nation," said Chu. "As Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, I am so proud that in less than one term, the President has nominated the most Asian Pacific American candidates to the bench in history. President Obama’s commitment to diversity on the federal bench is clearly evident. As Chair of CAPAC, I am fully committed to working with the President to promote the nominations of well-qualified judicial nominees who reflect the diverse makeup of our society.
The Asian Pacific American judges nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate include:
Denny Chin (2nd Cir), the first Asian Pacific American federal appellate court judge ever in the Northeast (First, Second, and Third Circuits).
Edmond E. Chang (NDIL), the first Asian Pacific American Article III judge to serve on the bench in Illinois or on any of the courts encompassed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and the youngest Article III judge in the country.
Edward M. Chen (NDCA), the first Asian Pacific American Article III judge to serve in San Francisco, which has an Asian Pacific American population of approximately 35%.
Dolly M. Gee (CDCA), the first Chinese American woman to serve as an Article III Judge.
Leslie E. Kobayashi (DHI), the first Japanese American federal judge confirmed during the Obama Administration.
Lucy Koh (NDCA), the second Korean American Article III judge in the nation, who also made history as the first female Korean American Article III judge, the first Korean American district court judge and the first Asian Pacific American Judge in the NDCA.
Jacqueline Nguyen (CDCA), the first Vietnamese American Article III judge in the history of the United States and the first Asian Pacific American female Article III judge in California history.
Alas, that list could have included Goodwin Liu, if the UC Berkeley law professor had been successfully confirmed by the Senate. Damn that
Republican filibuster. For more information on the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus, go to the CAPAC website
here.
