There was rightfully much celebration when Sonia Sotomayor became the Supreme Court's 1st Hispanic justice, and its third female justice.
Of course there has never been an Asian SCOTUS nominee. But did you know there is currently not a single Asian serving on the nation's appeals courts?
Good news:
Thirteen months into his presidency, Barack Obama finally gave liberal supporters the kind of judicial nominee they had sought and conservatives feared.
Goodwin Liu, 39, is an unabashed liberal legal scholar who, if confirmed, could become a force on the federal appeals court for decades. There's talk that in time, the Rhodes Scholar, former high court clerk and current assistant dean and law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, could be the first person of Asian descent chosen for the Supreme Court.
Asian Americans helped build this country. They are a big part of what makes America great.
Considering the fact that Asian Americans are already over 5% of the US population, and will comprise 9% by 2050, isn't it time they start getting their due?
More from the SF Chronicle:
...Liu, son of Taiwanese immigrants, has gleaming credentials: honor student, Rhodes scholar, Supreme Court law clerk, award-winning teacher, and author whose analysis of education law and policy has won praise across the political spectrum.
He's one of two Asian Americans nominated by Obama to the nation's appeals courts, which now have no one of Asian descent among nearly 175 full-time judges.
(snip)
Of all of Obama's judicial nominees, Liu is "by far the biggest target," said Curt Levey, executive director of the conservative Committee for Justice. Democrats, he asserted, "are obviously grooming him for the Supreme Court."
Ya got that, folks?
You know what that means? We have to get his back.
Let's see some good ole grassroots support for a good man who deserves to be rewarded for his good work.
And, oh yeah. Isn't it time we begin having a semblance of representation in our highest courts for one of the largest and fastest-growing minority groups in the country?
It was great to see Stephen Chu confirmed as Secretary of Energy, Eric Shinseki as Veteran Affairs Secretary, and Gary Locke as Secretary of Commerce. But what about those lifetime judgeships?
Website:
http://www.confirmgoodwin.com/
Facebook Page (Currently 1,054 fans):
Confirm Goodwin Liu
Important News announced yesterday:
http://www.confirmgoodwin.com/...
Senate Judiciary Committee Hearing on Liu Nomination Set
According to an official notice just posted, the Senate Judiciary Committee has set the hearing on the nomination of Goodwin Liu to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals for Wednesday, March 24 at 2:30 PM Eastern/11:30 AM Pacific.
For those in the Washington, DC area, the hearing will occur in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
For those unable to attend the hearing in person, this site is planning to live-blog of the hearing, which is expected to be viewable through a webcast.