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 earned her Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1993 and her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1996.[2]

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. From 2004 to 2014, she was a solo practitioner, representing clients in civil and criminal cases.[2]

Federal judicial service

On July 1, 2014, Kato was sworn in as a United States magistrate judge.[3]

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.[2] President Biden nominated Kato to the seat vacated by Judge Beverly Reid O'Connell, who died on October 8, 2017.[4] On February 1, 2022, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[5] During her hearing, Senator Chuck Grassley questioned her about an article she wrote while at Harvard Law School in which she said neoconservative Asian Americans "internalize the dialogue of oppressors, believing in the values of the status quo and condemning the activism of their group."[6] Senator Ted Cruz questioned her about her views on affirmative action.[7][8] On March 10, 2022, her nomination was stalled in committee by an 11–11 vote. On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the president under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate; she was renominated later the same day.[9] On February 9, 2023, her nomination was reported out of committee by an 11–10 vote.[10] Her nomination is pending before the United States Senate. If confirmed, Kato would be the first Asian American Pacific Islander woman to serve on the Central District of California.[2][11]

See also

References
  1. "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  2. "President Biden Names Eleventh Round of Judicial Nominees" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. December 15, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  3. "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.
  4. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. December 15, 2021. Retrieved December 15, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. January 31, 2022.
  6. "Senate Advances 6 'Extremist' Biden Nominees, Ted Cruz Warns". 10 February 2023.
  7. Raymond, Nate (February 1, 2022). "Republicans question Japanese-American judicial pick on book review". Reuters. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  8. Venkatraman, Sakshi (February 2, 2022). "Senate Republicans press Japanese American judge over law school article". NBC News. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  9. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 3, 2023.
  10. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – February 9, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  11. "Biden nominates local judges — including UCLA and UC Riverside grads — to federal bench". Daily News. December 15, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2022.


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