With just 52 Senators in favor, the U.S. Senate has confirmed Massachusetts judge Myong J. Joun to a position on the federal bench serving as U.S. District Judge in the federal district of Massachusetts. The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) recently identified Joun as becoming the “first Asian American male in Massachusetts to serve as an Article III judge.”
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau identified over seven and a half percent of the Massachusetts population as Asian, and though Joun will obviously serve whoever comes before him during his time as a judge, his ascent also means — as the arguments in favor of diversity go — that more of those in the general population will be more effectively represented. Joun’s past work most recently includes a stint as a municipal judge in Boston, besides also having worked in private practice as an attorney, where NAPABA said his areas of professional focus included civil rights. Joun is also a veteran.
While making his judicial nominations, President Joe Biden has consistently prioritized diversity in both personal and professional backgrounds. That arrangement of priorities has meant nominees from underrepresented communities and whose professional life has included time as a public defender, besides other roles. The Senate recently confirmed the first Muslim woman to serve as a federal judge anywhere in the country. Senators have also provided their necessary approval to lawyers with ties to organizations like the NAACP and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Dale E. Ho, for instance, helped run operations in defense of voting rights at the latter group — and is now confirmed to be a District Court judge in New York’s southern district.
In an era of Republican control of the House, which helps facilitate legislative moves about which Democrats definitely aren’t excited, most of the roll call votes the Senate takes these days focus actually on personnel moves.
