Three of the 11 invited Asian American Legal Eagles wanted to come
to 80-20's "The Gathering of AsAm Legal Eagles" Luncheon but
could not. So they expressed their support:
1. Dale Minami, who led the successful effort to overturn Fred
Korematsu's conviction for resisting internment, and fought in many
other civil rights cases:
"I'm sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. I have been
desperately trying to change a commitment I have on that day so I
could attend the luncheon but have been unsuccessful and therefore
must respectfully decline your kind invitation. I very much
appreciate what you are doing to influence the selection of Federal
Judges as we are terribly underrepresented and your efforts are
really critical to educating both our own community and the larger
American community about this disparity.
I was most honored by my inclusion on your list and although I
Cannot attend your event, please let people know that I am very
supportive of your efforts to diversify the courts!! Best of luck to
you and Happy New Year!! "
2. Federal District Judge George King, Central District of California
"I am sorry I was out for most of last week, and am just respond-
ing to your emails. First, this is my correct email address, & you can
feel free to contact me at this address. Second, thank you very much
for inviting me to the lunch on February 11, 2006. Unfortunately, I
will not be able to attend because I have already committed to
attending another event on that date. However, I want to let you know
how important I think the work of 80-20 is and that it is wonderful
that dedicated individuals like you are moving ahead to ensure fair
representation by Asian Americans in all segments of our government.
I hope you will stay in touch. "
3. Federal District Judge Denny Chin, Southern District of New
York. We deeply appreciate Judge Chin's providing us with some eye-
opening information, shown below
"I do want to thank you for your initiative on Asian-American
judges. I wanted to share some information with you. You may know
most of this, but you probably don't have the details.
There currently are only six active Asian-American Article III
federal judges in the country. All are trial judges, and there are no
active Asian-Am judges in the federal appellate courts. (Judge Tashima
in the Ninth Circuit is on senior status.) Unless there are new
appointments, when Judge Ron Lew takes senior status later this year,
we will be down to five Asian-American Article III judges. When I was
appointed in 1994, I was the only Asian-American Article III judge
outside the Ninth Circuit. Today, eleven years later, I am still the
only one outside the Ninth Circuit.
Other minority groups fare much better. The most recent available
statistics show that, as of Sept. 30, 2004, for Article III federal
judges, 0.7% were Asian (6), 10.7% were African-American (88),
and 6.5% were Hispanic (54). These numbers are for active judges and
do not include judges on senior status. (See Adm. Office of U.S.
Courts, Judiciary Fair Employment Practices, Annual Report
10/1/03-9/30/04, at 35).
Hence there are some 15 times as many African-American federal
judges and almost 10 times as many Hispanic federal judges as there
are Asian-Am federal judges.
In contrast, there are more Asian-American "legal professionals"
at law firms of 100 or more employees, as of 2002, than there are
African-Am. or Hispanic professionals. This is drawn from a 2003 EEOC
report http://www.eeoc.gov/stats/reports/diversitylaw/index.html ."
Please forward this email to your friends and relatives. Tell them
about 80-20's effort to fight for all AsAms. Here is the information
on our "Gathering Of Asian American Legal Eagle" event, where
5 of the remaining AsAm legal eagles will speak in person.
Date & Time: Feb. 11, Saturday. From noon to 2 p.m.
Place: Catalina Room, Four Points Sheraton LAX Hotel, 9750
Airport Blvd. LA, California.
