Kenly Kiya Kato

Kenly Kiya Kato (born 1972)[1] is a United States magistrate judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California who is a nominee to serve as a United States district judge of the same court.

Kenly Kiya Kato
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California
Assumed office
July 1, 2014
Personal details
Born1972 (age 50–51)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Harvard University (JD)

Education

Kato is Japanese American; her parents, as children, were among those subjected to internment during World War II.[2] She earned her Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1993.[3] She graduated Phi Beta Kappa, with a major in political science.[4] She received her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1996.[3]

Career

Kato served as a law clerk for Judge Robert Mitsuhiro Takasugi of the United States District Court for the Central District of California from 1996 to 1997. From 1997 to 2003, she was a deputy federal public defender in the federal public defender's office in Los Angeles. From 2003 to 2004, Kato was an associate at Liner LLP in Los Angeles.[3]

From 2004 to 2014, she was a solo practitioner.[3] She primarily represented federal criminal defendants, and also represented clients in civil rights and employment matters.[4] Prior to her appointment as a U.S. magistrate judge, she served on the federal district court's Merit Selection Panel and Standing Committee on Attorney Discipline.[4]

Federal judicial service

On July 1, 2014, Kato was sworn in as a United States magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.[4]

Nomination to district judgeship

On December 15, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Kato to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.[3] President Biden nominated Kato to the seat vacated by Judge Beverly Reid O'Connell, who died on October 8, 2017.[5] The recommendation for the seat on the court was made by Senator Dianne Feinstein.[6]

On February 1, 2022, a hearing was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[7] During it, Senators Chuck Grassley and Ted Cruz questioned her about a 1995 book review, published in Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review, that Kato had co-written in law school; in a heated dialogue, the two Republicans questioned Kato about a footnote in the book review that said that Asian-American neoconservatives "internalize the dialogue of oppressors, believing in the values of the status quo and condemning the activism of their group."[2][8][9] Cruz also questioned her about her views on affirmative action.[2][8] Republicans also objected to Kato's past experience as a public defender.[10] Her nomination is supported by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.[8] On March 10, 2022, the committee failed to report her nomination by an 11–11 vote.[11]

On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the president under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the Senate; she was renominated the same day.[12] On February 9, 2023, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote.[13] Her nomination is pending before the Senate.

See also

References
  1. "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  2. Raymond, Nate (February 1, 2022). "Republicans question Japanese-American judicial pick on book review". Reuters. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  3. "President Biden Names Eleventh Round of Judicial Nominees" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. December 15, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  4. "Kenly Kiya Kato Selected as United States Magistrate Judge for Central District Of California" (Press release). United States District Court for the Central District of California. July 1, 2014. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  5. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. December 15, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  6. "Professional Diversity By Senator".
  7. "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. January 31, 2022.
  8. Venkatraman, Sakshi (February 2, 2022). "Senate Republicans press Japanese American judge over law school article". NBC News. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  9. Perry S. Chen & Kenly Kiya Kato, Recent Publication: The State of Asian America: Activism and Resistance in the 1990s, 30 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 279 (1995).
  10. Rose Wagner, Five approved but Central District of California nominee caught in committee split, Courthouse News Service (March 10, 2022).
  11. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – March 10, 2022" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  12. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 3, 2023.
  13. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – February 9, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 9, 2023.


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