Kenly Kiya Kato

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Kenly Kiya Kato
K.Kato.jpg
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California
Assumed office
July 1, 2014
Personal details
Born1972 (age 49–50)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
EducationUniversity of California, Los Angeles (BA)
Harvard University (JD)

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.

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]

Legal 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[]

United States magistrate judge service[]

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

Nomination to district court[]

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] Her nomination is pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee. 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 on a book review on neo-conservative Asian Americans and Senator Ted Cruz questioned her on affirmative action.[6][7] On March 10, 2022, her nomination was stalled in committee by an 11–11 vote. The Senate will need to vote on a motion to discharge her nomination from committee. If confirmed, Kato would be the third Asian Pacific American woman to serve on the Central District.[2][8]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "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. ^ Raymond, Nate (February 1, 2022). "Republicans question Japanese-American judicial pick on book review". Reuters. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  7. ^ Venkatraman, Sakshi (February 2, 2022). "Senate Republicans press Japanese American judge over law school article". NBC News. Retrieved February 5, 2022.
  8. ^ "Biden nominates local judges — including UCLA and UC Riverside grads — to federal bench". Daily News. December 15, 2021. Retrieved February 16, 2022.

External links[]

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