Herbert Choy, 88; First Asian American to Serve as a Federal Judge
Federal appeals Judge Herbert Y.C. Choy, 88, the first Asian American to serve on the federal bench, died Wednesday in Honolulu of complications from pneumonia.
Choy was born on the Hawaiian island of Kauai to Korean immigrant parents. As a teenager, he worked in a pineapple processing plant in Honolulu. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii in 1938 and his law degree from Harvard in 1941.
A member of ROTC, he joined the Army the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He served part of his time as a member of the Army’s Judge Advocate General Corps.
After the war, Choy went into private law practice in Honolulu with Hiram Fong, who would become a U.S. senator from Hawaii.
Choy also served as territorial attorney general before Hawaii became a state in 1959.
In 1971, Choy was nominated for a seat on the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals by President Nixon. He commuted from Hawaii to hear cases with the San Francisco-based court until taking senior status in 1984.
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