Lucy Koh

Lucy Koh
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Incumbent
Assumed office December 14, 2021
Appointed by	Joe Biden
Preceded by	Richard Paez
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
In office June 9, 2010 – December 15, 2021
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Ronald Whyte
Succeeded by	P. Casey Pitts
Personal details
Born	(1968-08-07) August 7, 1968 (age 56) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Political party	Democratic[1]
Spouse	Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar
Children	2
Education	Harvard University (BA, JD)

Lucy Haeran Koh (born August 7, 1968) is an American lawyer serving as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Koh previously served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from 2010 to 2021. She also served as a California state court judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court from 2008 to 2010. She is the first Korean American woman to serve on a federal appellate court in the United States.^[2]

Early life and education

Born on August 7, 1968,^[3] in Washington, D.C., Koh was the first member of her family to be born in the United States. Her mother, a refugee from North Korea, had escaped the country at the age of ten after walking two weeks to South Korea. Her father was a veteran of the Korean War, where he fought Communist forces.^[4]

Koh spent most of her childhood in Mississippi, where her mother was an academic at Alcorn State University. She also spent parts of her young life in Maryland and Oklahoma. In 1986, Koh graduated from Norman High School in 1986 in Norman, Oklahoma. She attended Harvard College, where she was awarded a Harry S. Truman Scholarship and graduated in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, in social studies. She then attended Harvard Law School, where she was a semi-finalist in the Ames Moot Court Competition and graduated in 1993 with a Juris Doctor.^{[5][6][7][8][9]}

Legal career

From 1993 to 1994, Koh worked for the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary as a Women's Law and Public Policy Fellow. From 1994 to 1997, Koh worked for the United States Department of Justice, first as a Special Counsel in the Office of Legislative Affairs (1994–1996) and then as a Special Assistant to the Deputy Attorney General (1996–1997).^[1]

From 1997 to 2000, Koh served as an assistant United States attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. From 2000 to 2002, she worked as a senior associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, a Palo Alto, California law firm. From 2002 to 2008, Koh worked as a litigation partner at the Silicon Valley office of the law firm McDermott Will & Emery representing technology companies in patent, trade secret and commercial civil matters.^[10]

Judicial service

California state court service

In January 2008, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Koh a judge on the Santa Clara County Superior Court, a position she held until 2010 when she became a federal judge.^[1][8]

Federal judicial service

District court service

On January 20, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Koh on the recommendation of California Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California vacated by Judge Ronald M. Whyte, who assumed senior status in 2009.^[7] On February 11, 2010, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on her nomination.^[11] On March 4, 2010, the Senate Judiciary Committee favorably reported her nomination.^[12] The Senate confirmed Koh by a 90–0 vote on June 7, 2010.^[13][14] She received her commission on June 9, 2010.^[8] Her service as the district court judge was terminated on December 15, 2021 when she was elevated to the court of appeals.^[8]

As a district judge, Koh presided over litigation including Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., In re High-Tech Employee Antitrust Litigation, FTC v. Qualcomm (finding antitrust liability for conduct in licensing standard-essential patents, later reversed), and multi-district litigation, including the Yahoo and Anthem data breaches and Apple and Google privacy litigation.^[15]

In 2020, Koh presided over a case in which a coalition of local governments, activist groups, and American Indian tribes sued the Commerce Department over the Trump administration's intention to end the 2020 Census early. She issued a ruling that ultimately resulted in extending the once-a-decade count from September 30 to October 15.^[16][17]

Koh presided over Tandon v. Newsom, a challenge brought by plaintiffs' challenging California restrictions on gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic.^[18] Koh denied a plaintiffs' request for an injunction seeking to block the restrictions "insofar as they (1) ban indoor religious gatherings at their homes, including Bible studies, theological discussions, collective prayer, and musical prayer; and (2) limit outdoor religious gatherings at their homes to three households"; Koh ruled in February 2021 that the restrictions did not violate the Free Exercise Clause because "the State's private gatherings restrictions treat religious and secular gatherings alike and make no reference to religion."^[18][19] The Ninth Circuit affirmed Koh's decision, but the Ninth Circuit's ruling was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, which issued an order, on a 5–4 vote, determining that the restriction on religious gatherings in private homes was unconstitutional.^[20][21][22]

Expired nomination to court of appeals under Obama

On February 25, 2016, President Obama nominated Koh to serve as a United States circuit judge for the Ninth Circuit, to the seat vacated by Judge Harry Pregerson, who assumed senior status on December 11, 2015.^[23][24] On July 13, 2016, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.^[25] On September 15, 2016, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 13–7 vote,^[26] but the Senate did not act upon her nomination, and it expired on January 3, 2017, at the end of the 114th Congress.^[8] President Donald Trump nominated Daniel P. Collins to that seat on February 6, 2019 and was confirmed on May 21, 2019.

Renomination to court of appeals under Biden

On September 8, 2021, President Joe Biden announced his intention to renominate Koh to serve as a United States circuit judge for the Ninth Circuit.^[27] On September 20, 2021, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Koh to the seat to be vacated by Judge Richard Paez, who had announced his intent to assume senior status upon confirmation of a successor.^[28] Koh was unanimously rated "well qualified" for the circuit judgeship by the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary.^[29]

On October 6, 2021, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a confirmation hearing on her nomination.^[30] During her hearing, Republican senators criticized Koh for her ruling in the Tandon case.^[31][32] At least one Republican senator accused her of being hostile to people of faith; Koh noted that she is herself a person of faith.^[32] Another Republican senator, Tom Cotton, suggested that Koh should have disregarded circuit precedent in the Tandon case; Koh responded by noting that she was bound to follow the precedents of higher courts.^[33] Democrats defended Koh, and her nomination was also supported by former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican who appointed Koh to the state court earlier in her career.^[33] California Senator Alex Padilla criticized Republicans over attacks on Koh and other Biden judicial nominees, suggesting that Republicans had singled out nonwhite judicial nominees for disparaging treatment.^[34] On October 28, 2021, Koh's nomination was favorably reported by the committee by a 13–9 vote.^[35][36]

On December 7, 2021, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer filed cloture on Koh's nomination.^[37] On December 9, 2021, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 51–38 vote.^[38] On December 13, 2021, Koh was confirmed by a 50–45 vote.^[39][40] She received her judicial commission on December 14, 2021.^[8] Koh is the first Korean-American woman to serve as a federal appellate judge and the second Asian Pacific American woman to serve on the Ninth Circuit from California, after Jacqueline Nguyen.^[41]

Cases as a circuit judge

On November 13, 2023, Koh was in a 7-4 majority that temporarily blocked Idaho's abortion ban due to its lack of exceptions for medical emergencies.^[42] On January 5, 2024, the Supreme Court said it would take up the case and dissolved the 9th Circuit's temporary injunction.^[43]

On January 11, 2024, Koh struck down a San Francisco ordinance that prohibited homeless people from "sleeping, lodging or camping on public property."^[44][45]

Personal life

Koh is married to Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, the president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former justice of the California Supreme Court and professor at Stanford Law School.^[46] They have two children.^[47]

See also

• List of Asian American jurists
• List of first women lawyers and judges in California
• List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
• Hillary Clinton Supreme Court candidates
• Joe Biden judicial appointment controversies
• Joe Biden Supreme Court candidates

References

1. Governor Schwarzenegger Appoints Lucy Koh to Santa Clara County Superior Court (January 25, 2008) (press release).
2. Egelko, Bob (December 14, 2021). "Local judge becomes first Korean American woman to serve on a federal appellate court". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 16, 2021.
3. Voruganti, Harsh (September 30, 2021). "Judge Lucy Koh – Nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit". The Vetting Room. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
4. Deakin, Michelle (January 1, 2011). "Stepping Up: Lucy Koh '93". Harvard Law Today. Harvard Law School.
5. "United States Senate Judiciary Committee Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Judiciary Committee. 2021.
6. "Lucy Koh '93 nominated to serve as federal district court judge". December 14, 2013. Archived from the original on December 14, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
7. President Obama Nominates Five to Serve on the United States District Court Bench Archived February 16, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, whitehouse.gov (January 20, 2010).
8. Lucy Koh at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
9. "Senate Judiciary Committee Questionnaire – Lucy Koh".
10. "Senate Confirms Lucy Haeran Koh as Federal Judge in California's Northern District". Metropolitan News Company. June 8, 2010. Retrieved June 8, 2010.
11. "PN1363 — Lucy Haeran Koh — The Judiciary". Congress.gov. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
12. Egelko, Bob (March 4, 2010). "San Jose judge one step away from federal bench". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved March 4, 2010.
13. "On the Nomination (Confirmation Lucy Haeran Koh, of California, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of California)". United States Senate. June 7, 2010. Retrieved November 8, 2022.
14. "Kagan Nomination Not Stopping Other Nominees". The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. June 7, 2010. Retrieved December 24, 2012.
15. "Federal Trade Commission v. Qualcomm Inc., No. 19-16122 (9th Cir. 2020)". Justia Law. August 23, 2019. p. 9. Retrieved October 26, 2021.
16. Wang, Hansi Lo (September 30, 2020). "Appeals Court Rejects Push To End Census Early By Trump Administration". NPR. Retrieved October 3, 2020.
17. Wang, Hansi Lo (October 13, 2020). "Supreme Court Allows Trump Administration To End Census Counting On Oct. 15". All Things Considered. NPR.
18. Ninth Circuit Denies Emergency Relief Permitting In-Home Bible Studies, Metropolitan News-Enterprise (April 1, 2021).
19. Tandon v. Newsom, 517 F. Supp. 3d 922 (N.D. 2021).
20. Scarcella, Mike (October 6, 2021). "9th Circuit nominee Lucy Koh defends COVID-19, antitrust rulings". Reuters.
21. Savage, David (April 9, 2021). "In 5–4 vote, Supreme Court lifts California's COVID ban on group Bible study in homes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
22. Tandon v. Newsom, 593 U.S. 20A151 (2021).
23. "President Obama Nominates Judge Lucy Haeran Koh to serve on the United States Court of Appeals". whitehouse.gov. February 25, 2016 – via National Archives.
24. "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate". whitehouse.gov. February 25, 2016 – via National Archives.
25. "United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary". Judiciary.senate.gov. July 13, 2016.
26. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – September 15, 2016" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
27. "President Biden Names Seventh Round of Judicial Nominees" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
28. "Nominations and Withdrawal Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. September 20, 2021.
29. Ratings of Article III and Article IV Judicial Nominees: 117th Congress, American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary (last updated December 12, 2022).
30. "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. October 6, 2021.
31. Raymond, Nate (December 13, 2021). "U.S. Senate confirms Koh to 9th Circuit, with Sung vote looming". Reuters.
32. Jacqueline Thomsen, Biden 9th Circuit Pick Draws Republican Ire Over COVID-19 Religious Gathering Ruling,National Law Journal (October 6, 2021).
33. Madison Alder, Religious Freedom Tension Spills Into Circuit Pick Hearing (1), Bloomberg Law (October 6, 2021).
34. Tal Kopan, [Padilla calls out treatment of judicial nominees of color ahead of Supreme Court fight], San Francisco Chronicle (February 11, 2022).
35. "Results of Executive Business Meeting" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. October 28, 2021.
36. Bob Egelko, Judiciary panel sends Lucy Koh appeals court nomination to Senate floor, San Francisco Chronicle (October 28, 2021).
37. "PN1167 — Lucy Haeran Koh — The Judiciary". Congress.gov. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
38. "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Lucy Haeran Koh to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit)". United States Senate. December 9, 2021. Retrieved December 9, 2021.
39. "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Lucy H. Koh, of California, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit)". United States Senate. December 13, 2021. Retrieved December 13, 2021.
40. Jordan S. Rubin (December 13, 2021). "Senate Confirms First Korean-American Woman Appeals Court Judge". Bloomberg Law. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
41. "President Biden Makes Judges Koh And Thomas First Korean-American And African American Female Appeals Court Judges In California". Oakland News Now. September 8, 2021. Retrieved September 8, 2021.
42. "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA vs. STATE OF IDAHO" (PDF). SCOTUSBlog. November 13, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
43. "Supreme Court Allows Idaho to Enforce Its Strict Abortion Ban, Even in Medical Emergencies". Time. January 6, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
44. "COALITION ON HOMELESSNESS v. CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO" (PDF). January 11, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
45. "Biden Judges Uphold Injunction Against City's Actions Punishing Homeless People". People for the American Way. January 16, 2024. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
46. Howard Mintz, Santa Clara County judge becomes first Asian-American federal judge in Bay Area history, Mercury News/Bay Area News Group (June 7, 2010).
47. Kristen V. Brown: In Silicon Valley, Lucy Koh is the law, SFGate, August 10, 2014

External links

• Lucy Koh at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• Lucy Koh at Ballotpedia

Legal offices
Preceded by Ronald M. Whyte	Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California 2010–2021	Succeeded by P. Casey Pitts
Preceded by Richard Paez	Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit 2021–present	Incumbent