Senate Confirms First Korean-American Woman Appeals Court Judge
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit will have its first judge appointed by President Joe Biden after the Senate confirmed Lucy Koh on Monday.
Koh, a U.S. District Judge in the Northern District of California, will be the first Korean-American woman to serve as a U.S. federal appeals court judge. She was confirmed by a vote of 50-45.
Biden has made demographic and experiential diversity a priority in judicial nominees.
In response to a question at her Oct. 6 confirmation hearing, Koh said diversity on the bench serves “to enhance confidence in the justice system” and “to reaffirm the American dream—anyone can become a judge.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee had approved Koh’s nomination in October by a 13-9 margin. Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who voted in favor of her nomination out of the committee, noted at the time that he had “reservations about her approach and reasoning in a number of cases.” Grassley voted against her on the Senate floor on Monday.
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/us-law-week/senate-confirms-first-korean-american-woman-appeals-court-judge-1