Vol. 36, Number 2—February 2004

Judge Choy Honored

A portrait of Judge Herbert Choy (9th Cir.) was unveiled last month during ceremonies at the historic Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Courthouse in San Francisco. The portrait honors Choy as the nation's first federal judge of Asian descent and the first judge to represent Hawaii on the Ninth Circuit.

Choy was appointed to the Ninth Circuit in 1971 and served as an active judge until 1984, when he took senior status.

Born on Kauai to Korean immigrants who had come to work on the island's sugar plantations, Choy earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii in 1938, and his J.D. from Harvard University Law School in 1941. He served with the Army Judge Advocate General during World War II. Upon leaving the service, he went into private practice in 1946.

The portrait, painted by Scottish artist Anne Mackintosh, was donated to the court by some of Choy's 70-plus former law clerks. One of his former law clerks, Judge Richard R. Clifton, became the second judge from Hawaii to serve on the Ninth Circuit upon his appointment to the bench in 2001.