Portrait to honor
isle appellate judge
The nation's first federal judge of Asian descent and the first judge to represent Hawaii on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will be honored tomorrow with the unveiling of a portrait donated to the court by his former law clerks.
Senior Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Herbert Young Cho Choy will not attend the unveiling ceremony at the historic Court of Appeals in San Francisco. A videotape of the ceremony will be sent to his home in Honolulu. In April, Choy attended a U.S. District Court Conference luncheon at the Halekulani Hotel that was held in his honor with the dedication of the portrait.
Judge Richard Clifton, who succeeded Choy on the Court of Appeals last year, and many of his friends and colleagues are expected to attend the ceremony.
Choy, 87, was born on Kauai to Korean immigrants who worked on the island's sugar plantations. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii in 1938 and his J.D. from Harvard University Law School in 1941.
Choy served with the Army Judge Advocate General during World War II. Upon leaving the service, he went into private practice in 1946, becoming the nation's first Korean-American attorney. He was nominated to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by President Richard Nixon and confirmed by the Senate in 1971. Choy served as an active judge until 1984.