Dale Ho

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Dale Ho
Personal details
Born
Dale Edwin Ho[1]

1977 (age 44–45)
San Jose, California, U.S.
EducationPrinceton University (BA)
Yale University (JD)

Dale Edwin Ho (born 1977)[2] is an American lawyer who is the director of the American Civil Liberties Union's voting rights project. In 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Ho to be a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Early life and education[]

Ho was born in 1977 in San Jose, California.[2] He received his A.B. summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1999 and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 2005.[2][3]

Legal career[]

Ho served as a law clerk to Judge Barbara S. Jones of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (2005–2006) and Associate Judge Robert S. Smith of the New York Court of Appeals (2006–2007).[3][4] Through the fellowship, he worked for the private law firm Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson as a NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc. (NAACP LDF) Fellow (2007–2009), and then as a staff attorney with the NAACP LDF from 2009–2013,[5] where he worked on legislative redistricting projects, including anti-gerrymandering efforts.[6]

In 2013, Ho became director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Voting Rights Project.[3] In 2018, Ho was a lead attorney in Fish v. Kobach, in which the district appeals court ruled that it was illegal to require documentary proof of citizenship in order to register to vote.[7][8] Ho argued the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, which affirmed the district court's ruling.[9] Ho argued twice against the Trump administration in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. In Department of Commerce v. New York (2019), Ho represented a coalition of immigrant advocacy groups who successfully challenged Donald Trump's plan to include a citizenship question on the 2020 United States census questionnaire.[10] In Trump v. New York (2020), the ACLU unsuccessfully challenged the Trump administration's plan to exclude undocumented immigrants from the congressional apportionment process.[11]

Since 2014, Ho has taught a racial justice clinic as an adjunct professor at the New York University School of Law.[11]

In 2019, Ho was one of five ACLU lawyers featured in the documentary The Fight, produced by actress Kerry Washington, which followed his preparation, oral argument, and reaction in the United States Supreme Court proceedings around Department of Commerce v. New York.[12]

Nomination to district court[]

Since the start of President Joe Biden's administration, Ho has been considered a potential nominee for a federal judgeship.[13] On June 7, 2021, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer recommended Ho for a federal judgeship to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.[14] On September 30, 2021, Biden nominated Ho to serve as a judge of that court,[15] to the seat vacated by Judge Katherine B. Forrest, who resigned on September 11, 2018.[16]

On December 1, 2021, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[17] During his confirmation hearing, Ho apologized for his "overheated rhetoric" on social media, which included past tweets critical of three Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Marsha Blackburn, Mike Lee, and Tom Cotton.[18] He was questioned by senators over a tweet in which he appeared to refer to himself as a "wild-eyed sort of leftist"; he explained that he was "referring to a caricature of the way other people may have described me, not how I would describe myself."[19] A resurfaced video from 2018 showed Ho calling the U.S. Senate and the Electoral College "undemocratic" and arguing that voting should be made easier and that people with criminal convictions should not lose the right to vote.[20] The conservative Judicial Crisis Network launched a $300,000 television ad campaign against Ho (the group's first TV campaign against a Biden judicial nominee);[21] in response, progressive group Demand Justice launched a six-figure ad campaign in support of Ho.[22] On January 3, 2022, his nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate;[23] he was later renominated the same day.[24] His nomination is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Personal life[]

Ho is a member of the First Unitarian Congregational Society of Brooklyn.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ Bulletin of Yale University, Series 101 Number 8 (PDF). Yale Law School. 2005-08-10.
  2. ^ a b c d "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c "President Biden Names Eighth Round of Judicial Nominees" (Press release). White House Press Office. September 30, 2021.
  4. ^ "Fried Frank Fellowship Opens Doors" (PDF). www.friedfrank.com. Retrieved 2021-10-05.
  5. ^ "LDF Issues Statement on President Biden's New Judicial Nominees". www.naacpldf.org (Press release). Retrieved 2021-10-05.
  6. ^ Service, Ronnie EllisCNHI News (24 Aug 2011). "Lawmaker wants prisoners to be counted in redistricting". Richmond Register. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  7. ^ Desrochers, Daniel (September 30, 2021). "Attorney who helped toss Kobach's voter registration law nominated for federal judgeship". McClatchy. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  8. ^ Cassens Weiss, Debra. "Judge strikes down Kansas voter ID law and orders Kris Kobach to take additional CLE". ABA Journal. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  9. ^ "Supreme Court won't revive Kansas voter registration ID law". Associated Press. December 14, 2020.
  10. ^ Sherman, Mark; Gresko, Jessica (16 October 2020). "Justices to weigh Trump census plan to exclude noncitizens". Associated Press. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  11. ^ a b Kalmbacher, Colin (September 30, 2021). "Biden Nominates ACLU Voting Rights Head to Federal Judgeship in New York; Progressives Praise Choice of 'Democracy's Lawyer'". Law & Crime. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  12. ^ Kenigsberg, Ben (30 July 2020). "'The Fight' Review: Pressing the Case, or Cases". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 March 2021.
  13. ^ Kragie, Andrew (3 January 2021). "65 Names To Watch When Biden Picks Circuit Judges - Law360". www.law360.com. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  14. ^ Alder, Madison (7 June 2021). "Schumer Recommends Voting Rights Lawyers for Federal Bench". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Biden Nominates ACLU Voting Rights Head to Federal Judgeship in New York; Progressives Praise Choice of 'Democracy's Lawyer'". 30 September 2021.
  16. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. September 30, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  17. ^ "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. December 1, 2021.
  18. ^ Scarcella, Mike (1 December 2021). "In bid for N.Y. federal bench, ACLU litigator apologizes for 'overheated' tweets". Reuters. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  19. ^ Bendery, Jennifer (2 December 2021). "John Kennedy Tells Biden Nominee Dale Ho He's Too 'Angry' To Be A Federal Judge". HuffPost. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  20. ^ "Biden Trial Court Pick Dale Ho Target of Conservative Ad (1)". news.bloomberglaw.com. November 30, 2021. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  21. ^ Nichols, Hans (November 30, 2021). "Conservative group targets Biden court pick ahead of Mississippi abortion case". Axios. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  22. ^ Swanson, Ian (6 December 2021). "Demand Justice launches ad campaign backing Biden nominee who drew GOP pushback". TheHill. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  23. ^ "PN1211 - Nomination of Dale E. Ho for The Judiciary, 117th Congress (2021-2022)". www.congress.gov. January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 4, 2022.
  24. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 3, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links[]

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