For Immediate Release: December 15, 2021 
Contact: media@napawf.org

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – NAPAWF congratulates Judge Lucy Koh and Judge Jennifer Sung, two phenomenal Asian American women confirmed to the federal bench this week. On December 13, the Senate voted to confirm Judge Lucy Koh to the Ninth Circuit, making her the first Korean American woman on an appellate court. On December 15, the Senate confirmed Judge Jennifer Sung to the Ninth Circuit, making her the first Asian American to be nominated for the federal bench in Oregon. 

“I am thrilled to see these brilliant Asian American women confirmed to the federal bench. Out of 179 federal judges, only a handful are AAPI, and even less are also women. Confirmations of these well-qualified women are a crucial step in making sure the federal court is representative of the whole country and AAPI women’s voices are represented,” said Sung Yeon Choimorrow, Executive Director of National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF). 

Read NAPAWF’s letter of support for Lucy Koh here and letter of support for Jennifer Sung, co-led with Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO, here. 

Sung was a labor lawyer and former union organizer who is the first Asian American  judge from Oregon on the Ninth Circuit. Prior to her confirmation, she served on the Oregon Employment Relations Board as an adjudicator on labor relations disputes and union representation matters.  

Judge Koh has served as a federal district court judge in the Northern District of California since 2010, where she became well known for presiding over high-profile cases, including one where she blocked former President Trump’s attempt to shorten the Census count. Had this count period been shortened, it would have led to an undercount of hard-to-reach populations, including immigrant AAPI communities. 

###

The National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF) is the only multi-issue, progressive, community organizing and policy advocacy organization for Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women and girls in the U.S. NAPAWF’s mission is to build collective power so that all AAPI women and girls can have full agency over our lives, our families, and our communities.