Herbert Choy

Infobox Korean name


caption=Official portrait of Herbert Choy.
hangul=최영조
hanja=
rr=Choe Yeong-jo
mr=Ch'oe Yŏng-cho

Herbert Young Cho Choy (born January 6, 1916, Makaweli, Hawaii–March 10, 2004) was the first Asian American federal judge in the history of the United States, as well as the first person of Korean ancestry to be admitted to practice law in the United States.

Background

He was born in 1916 to Korean immigrants who worked in Hawaii's sugar plantations. Choy received his BA from the University of Hawaii in 1938; and his JD from the Harvard Law School in 1941. He was the first person of Korean ancestry to be admitted to practice law in the United States.

From 1946 to 1947, Choy worked as Army Judge Advocate General. After leaving the service he began work with the private law firm of Fong Miho Choy & Robinson from 1947 to 1957, where one of his partners was the future U.S. Senator Hiram Fong.

From 1957 to 1958, Choy served as attorney general for the Territory of Hawaii. In 1971, at the urging of Senator Fong, President Richard Nixon appointed Choy to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. At the time of Choy's appointment, there were no Asian Americans serving anywhere on the federal bench. Choy was the first individual from Hawaiokina'i ever appointed to the court.

Choy actively served until 1984, when he took senior status. He was a native of the Hawaiian island of Kauai and had chambers in Honolulu. In 2001, one of Choy's former law clerks, Richard R. Clifton, became the second judge from Hawaii to serve on the Ninth Circuit.

Choy authored many significant opinions, upholding the constitutionality of a law allowing child sexual abuse victims to testify via closed-circuit television, allowing a Muslim inmate to sue Phoenix-area jail officials for imposing discriminatory security measures at Muslim services, and upholding California’s “green advertising” law regulating advertisers’ claims about “biodegradable” or “recycled” products.

References

*cite web | title=Ninth Circuit Mourns Passing of Senior Circuit Judge Herbert Choy | work=Ninth Circuit Mourns Passing of Senior Circuit Judge Herbert Choy | url=http://www.ce9.uscourts.gov/Web/OCELibra.nsf/0/2e4a09d00e04781588256e55005e3a52?OpenDocument | accessdate = 2005-03-02

*cite web | title=Notable Records of Judicial Service | work=Notable Records of Judicial Service | url=http://air.fjc.gov/history/topics/topics_notable_bdy.html | accessdate = 2005-03-02