Sri Srinivasan among possible Asian American nominees.
AB Wire
U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) has called on President Barack Obama to nominate the first Asian American to the United States Supreme Court to replace Justice Antonin Scalia who passed away over the weekend.
In a letter that Meng sent to the President Wednesday, she highlighted several qualified candidates including Sri Srinivasan, a judge of Indian descent. She also noted Kamala Harris, an Indian American who serves as California’s Attorney General.
“Respectfully, I write to request that you consider nominating the first ever Asian American Justice to the Supreme Court of the United States,” wrote Meng. “I know that, ultimately, you will make the decision that is best for America. I thank you for reviewing this matter and considering my request. I eagerly await your response, and your nomination.”
The text of the letter in full:
The Honorable Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
Respectfully, I write to request that you consider nominating the first ever Asian American justice to the Supreme Court of the United States.
You have already appointed more minority federal judges, 114, than any other President in history. The 20 Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) judges you have appointed are more than every other President in history, combined (20 to 17, respectively); the nine AAPI female judges you have appointed is more than four times as many as every other President in history, combined (nine to two, respectively); and the four AAPI Circuit Court judges you have appointed are more than either George W. Bush (zero) or Bill Clinton (one) made during their entire presidencies. For that, I thank you deeply.
In selecting your two previous nominees, you wisely chose two women, one of whom, Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, has the distinction of being the first Supreme Court justice of Hispanic heritage. As you make this selection, I think you will find there are many qualified AAPI persons from which to choose. Many shortlists being bandied about in the media contain at least the following possibilities, among many other qualified candidates:
- Sri Srinivasan: 48-year-old D.C. Circuit judge. His confirmation to the federal appeals court for D.C. in 2013 was unanimous. Judge Srinivasan clerked for former Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, has argued before the Supreme Court two dozen times (including arguments against the Defense of Marriage Act), and has served in both the Bush administration and yours. During his nomination, Senator Ted Cruz referred to Mr. Srinivasan as a longtime friend, and Senator Orrin Hatch called him “terrific.” Judge Srinivasan, who was born in India and grew up in Kansas, is the first-ever South Asian circuit court judge.
- Jacqueline Nguyen: Ninth Circuit judge in her early 50s. Her confirmation in 2009 was unanimous. Judge Nguyen was born in Vietnam, and lived there until her family fled to the U.S. when she was 10. Her appellate court nomination announcement from the White House notes that her family lived in a refugee camp in California before settling in the Los Angeles area.
- Lucy Koh: Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in her late 40s. Judge Koh is the first Asian American United States district court judge in the Northern District of California, the first district court judge of Korean descent in the United States, the first female Korean American Article III judge, and the second Korean American federal judge (after Herbert Choy of the Ninth Circuit).
- Denny Chin: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit judge in his early 60s.Judge Chin served as a judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was born in Hong Kong, graduated from Stuyvesant High School in New York City, followed by Princeton University and Fordham University School of Law, and was the first Asian American appointed as a U.S. District Judge outside of the Ninth Circuit.
- Kamala Harris: At age 51 is the first woman, first African-American, and first South Asian to hold her current post as Attorney General of California. Her mother was a breast cancer researcher from India, and her Jamaican father taught economics at Stanford. As a young prosecutor, Attorney General Harris tried cases of homicide, domestic violence, and sex slavery. Later, as San Francisco’s district attorney, she doubled her predecessor’s conviction rate.
These, of course, are only a few of the many wonderful AAPI options I am confident White House Counsel is preparing to place in front of you. I know that, ultimately, you will make the decision that is best for America. As the Representative whose Congressional district includes the Elmhurst neighborhood in Queens, New York, where the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was raised, I thank you for reviewing this matter and considering my request. I eagerly await your response, and your nomination.
Sincerely,
Rep. Grace Meng
Member of Congress