While I have been disappointed in the Obama Administration's failure to move on such progressive issues as Don't Ask/Don't Tell, repealing DOMA and immigration and failing to be more forceful about the public option or Medicare for all, the White House has definitely done a good job of diversifying the federal bench and particularly nominating Asian American judges. Today comes word of Lucy Koh's nomination to the District Court of the Northern District of California.

The official White House press release is below, but here is her bio from the California Governor's office:

Koh, 39, of Stanford, has been a partner at McDermott, Will and Emery since 2002. Prior to that, she was a senior associate at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati from 2000 to 2002 and an assistant U.S. attorney in the major frauds section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California from 1997 to 2000. From 1996 to 1997, Koh was a special assistant to the U.S. Deputy Attorney General in Washington, D.C. and special counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice from 1994 to 1996. She earned a Juris Doctorate degree from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges. Koh fills the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Randolf Rice. Koh is a Democrat.

And the press release:

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

_______________________________________________________________________________________

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 20, 2010

 

President Obama Nominates Five to Serve on the United States District Court Bench

 

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Obama nominated Jon DeGuilio, Judge Audrey Goldstein Fleissig, Judge Lucy H. Koh, Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson and Judge Tanya Walton Pratt to be United States District Court judges.

 

“I am honored to nominate these five distinguished candidates to the United States District Court bench,” said President Obama.  “They represent some of the best in American jurisprudence and they will serve the American people with integrity.  I am grateful for their commitment to public service and look forward to their appointment to the federal bench.”

 

Jon DeGuilio: Nominee for the United States District Court, Northern District of Indiana

Jon DeGuilio has been Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Peoples Bank/Northwest Indiana Bancorp in Munster, Indiana since 2001.  Mr. DeGuilio served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana from 1993 to 1999, and was the Lake County Prosecutor from 1989 to 1993.  He also has been in private practice and served as a deputy prosecutor and public defender.  Mr. DeGuilio received his B.A. from the University of Notre Dame in 1977 and his J.D. from Valparaiso University School of Law in 1981.    

Judge Audrey Goldstein Fleissig: Nominee for the United States District Court, Eastern District of Missouri

 Judge Audrey Goldstein Fleissig is a United States magistrate judge for the Eastern District of Missouri, a position she has held for the last eight years. Prior to taking the bench, Fleissig was a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District, where she also served as the Senate-confirmed United States Attorney for approximately one year. Before joining the United States Attorney's Office in 1991, Fleissig was in private practice at the St. Louis firm of Peper Martin Jensen Maichel and Hetlage (now Husch Blackwell Sanders), first as an associate from 1980 to 1989, and later as a partner from 1989 to1991. She is the former President of the Women Lawyer’s Association of Greater St. Louis and is a member of the National Association of Women Judges.  Fleissig received her Bachelor's degree from Carleton College in 1976. In 1980, she received her J.D. from Washington University School of Law, where she is an adjunct professor.

Judge Lucy H. Koh: Nominee for the United States District Court, Northern District of California

Judge Lucy H. Koh currently sits on the Superior Court of California  for  the County of Santa Clara, the state's trial court of general jurisdiction.  Prior to being appointed to the bench by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2008, she was in private practice in Palo Alto, where she was a litigation partner representing technology companies in patent, trade secret, and commercial civil matters.  Prior to her work in private practice, Judge Koh was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Central District of California.  She is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Korean American Bar Association of Northern California.  Judge Koh received her B.A. from Harvard University in 1990 and her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1993.

Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson: Nominee for the United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana

Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson serves as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Indiana, a position to which she was appointed in January 2007.  Prior to her appointment, she served 12 years as a Superior Court judge for Marion County, Indiana, where she served on the Court's Executive Committee, supervised the Probation Department, and was one of six judges presiding over major felony cases.  Judge Magnus-Stinson has been an active member of the Indianapolis Bar Association, including as chair of its Pro Bono Standing Committee, co-chair of its Professionalism Committee, and Moderator of its leadership series.  Prior to becoming a judge, Magnus-Stinson was counsel and deputy chief of staff to then-Governor Evan Bayh, and before that was in private litigation practice with the Indianapolis firm of Lewis, Bowman, St. Clair and Wagner (now Lewis Wagner).  Magnus-Stinson was named Outstanding Judge by the Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence and receieved the Outstanding Service Award from the Indiana Coalition Against Sexual Assault.  She graduatedcum laude from Butler University in 1979 and from the Indiana University School of Law - Indianapolis in 1983.

Judge Tanya Walton Pratt:  Nominee for the United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana

Judge Tanya Walton Pratt currently sits in the Probate Division of the Marion County Superior Court.  Prior to her assignment to the probate court in 2009, Judge Pratt was a trial judge in the Marion County Superior Court’s Criminal Division, presiding over major felony matters for 12 years.  Judge Pratt has been a member of the Marion Superior Court’s four-member Executive Committee, which oversees the administrative operations of the court, since 2006.   In 2007, Judge Pratt became Supervising Judge of the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center.   Prior to taking the bench in 1997, she was in private practice and also served as a deputy public defender.  She is a member of the House of Delegates for the Indiana Bar Association and was Chair of the Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday Commission in Indiana from 2001 to 2007.  Judge Pratt received her B.A. from Spelman College in 1981 and her J.D. from Howard University School of Law in 1984.  

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