Many Milestones for APA Women in Law

Asian-Pacific American Law Briefs

By AAV Staff

August 2002 - This has been a banner month for APAs in the legal profession, and for APA women in particular.   On Friday August 16, California governor Gray Davis announced the appointment of Tammy Chung Ryu to the Los Angeles Superior Court.   An aide to Attorney General Bill Lockyer, Ryu had previously served as a deputy in the AG’s the health, education and welfare division.  The appointment makes the Seoul-born Ryu the state’s first Korean-American woman judge, establishing one important marker in what has become a distinct series of milestones for APAs in the law this year.

On the other side of the country mere days earlier, Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening announced the appointment of Jeannie Hong, 36, to the Maryland District Court, making her the first Asian-American judge in Maryland, Washington D.C., and Virginia, and reportedly the first Korean-American female judge in the nation.  Also born in Seoul, Hong had previously served as an expert in prosecuting carjacking cases, and litigated cases in the district, juvenile, misdemeanor and felony divisions of the office.  Gov. Glendening has also nominated Brian Kim for the District Court of Montgomery County.  If confirmed, Kim would become the state's second Asian-American judge.

While the nationwide progress of APAs in the judiciary has been considerable this year, the epicenter remains, unsurprisingly, Los Angeles.  On the Tuesday before the Ryu announcement, Davis also introduced Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacqueline H. Nguyen as his appointee the L.A. Superior Court, making her the first Vietnamese-American woman to serve as a California trial or appellate court judge.   An immigrant to the U.S. in 1975, Ngyuen was former president of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association, a national organization representing APAs in the profession that has been instrumental in promoting the current field of APA candidates for bench appointments.

These milestone appointments may be seen as parts of a trend -- whether conscious or unconscious -- of  promotions that are incrementally making the courts more appropriately reflect the diverse citizenry of the state with the nation’s largest APA population.  Earlier this year, on the federal level, the U.S. Senate unanimously confirmed President Bush’s nominee, Debra Yang, for the chief federal prosecutor slot in Los Angeles.  The first Asian American to serve as U.S. attorney in L.A., Yang had early on pioneered similar paths taken by Ryu and Nguyen, as a judge in the L.A. Municipal and Superior courts.

The trend may also be partly attributable to increased networking among diverse APAs in the legal profession who have specifically committed to identifying, advising, and promoting APA candidates for judgeships.  The mission statement for the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), for example, includes a directive to “to broaden opportunities for APA law students, lawyers, and judges.”  NAPABA provides a strong national communications network for APAs in the field, and will provide career development advice for members who think they might want to shoot for judgeship.

However, the key to diversifying judiciary nominees is not only promoting individual candidates with high qualifications, says NAPABA judiciary committee chair John Yang, but also fostering broader diversity on the selection committees themselves.  As Yang explained to AP reporter Gretchen Parker, commenting on Hong’s appointment in Maryland, “If you don't have a diverse commission, it's more likely members will not know minority candidates and will not think those minority candidates are as qualified.''

Other Law News in Brief

JACL Asserts Support for the EEOC's Igasaki

In a strongly worded statement, the nation’s oldest and largest Asian Pacific American civil rights organization has urged President Bush to reappoint Paul M. Igasaki to his seat on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  Igasaki’s current term expired at the end of June 2002, but he remains in a political limbo as a “hold over” in a temporary status through August 30.   In an 8/13 release, the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) argued that the Administration’s failure to re-nominate Igasaki by August 30 would significantly “[curtail] the agency’s processing capacity and eliminat[e] a valuable voice of insight to our nation’s multifaceted needs.”

Igasaki “has been in a holding pattern for months,” said JACL National President Floyd Mori. “What is the delay? Senate Majority Leader Daschle indicated his support months ago, back in May. The civil rights and Asian Pacific American communities support Igasaki. Clearly, after eight years of service, he is more than qualified to do the job. The EEOC is fortunate to have someone of his credentials.”  

However, many supporters are concerned that Igasaki’s status as a Democratic commissioner may sway the Administration’s nomination decision as much as his credentials, which include serving variously as commissioner, Acting Chair, and Vice Chair of the five-member, bipartisan commission since 1994.

“We are very concerned that a competent and committed public official will be sacrificed to politics here,” commented Kristine Minami, JACL Director for Public Affairs.  “If the EEOC loses Igasaki, then the American public really loses,” Minami said.

JACL National Executive Director John Tateishi further stressed that failure to re-nominate Igasaki would not only strip the EEOC of an experienced member, but also of its first and sole Asian-Pacific American commissioner.

“The President prides himself on the diversity of his administration, yet he is unwilling to re-nominate to his seat the only Asian Pacific American serve on any federal civil rights commission...?” Tateishi asked. “Given the debacle resulting from the insensitive comments made by a member of U.S. Civil Rights Commission last month, it is all the more apparent that we need commissioners who understand civil rights and the functions of their commissions.”

WWII Evacuation Resister “Min” Yasui Receives Posthumous Award

The late civil rights attorney Minoru “Min” Yasui has received the 2002 Meritorious Service Award of the University of Oregon School of Law faculty. The annual award recognizes people who have made extraordinary contributions to legal education and the law. Having earned his law degree in 1939, Yasui was the first Japanese-American graduate of the UO School of Law and subsequently the only practicing attorney of Japanese ancestry in Oregon. Yasui challenged the constitutionality of the restrictive laws against JAs during WWII. In the 1980s, he was party to a successful set of lawsuits that overturned the WWII convictions and helped lay the groundwork for a government apology and reparations for internment camp survivors. An account of Yasui’s wartime experience was presented in A Family Gathering by Lise Yasui, which was televised on public television stations across the country soon after his death in 1986.

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