Ming William Chin (born August 31, 1942) is an American attorney and former

Associate Justice An associate justice or associate judge (or simply associate) is a judicial panel member who is not the chief justice in some jurisdictions. The title "Associate Justice" is used for members of the Supreme Court of the United States and some ...

of the

Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the Supreme court, highest and final court of appeals in the judiciary of California, courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly ...

, serving from March 1, 1996 to August 31, 2020.

Biography

Chin was born and raised in

Klamath Falls, Oregon Klamath Falls ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called ''Linkville'' when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city ...

. His family moved to San Jose, California, and he attended

Bellarmine College Preparatory Bellarmine College Preparatory is an all-boys, Jesuit, private secondary school located in San Jose, California. Founded on May 8, 1851, it is the oldest Jesuit secondary school in California and the second-oldest west of the Mississippi River. ...

, graduating in 1960. Chin then received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

from the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

in 1964. Subsequently, he studied at the

University of San Francisco School of Law The University of San Francisco School of Law (USF Law) is the law school of the private University of San Francisco. Established in 1912, it received American Bar Association accreditation in 1935 and joined the Association of American La ...

, and obtained a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

in 1967. After graduating, he was commissioned a Captain in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, and in 1969 was awarded both a

Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fift ...

and

Bronze Star The Bronze Star Medal (BSM) is a United States Armed Forces decoration awarded to members of the United States Armed Forces for either heroic achievement, heroic service, meritorious achievement, or meritorious service in a combat zone. Wh ...

for his meritorious service in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. After Chin's discharge, he practiced for three years as a deputy district attorney for the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, and was promoted to felony trial deputy. In 1973, Chin entered private practice with Aiken, Kramer & Cummings, and focused on litigation. He is well known among California employment lawyers as one of the four current authors of the Rutter Group practice guide on employment litigation.

Judicial career

In 1988, Chin was appointed as a Judge of the Alameda County Superior Court. Then, in August 1990, Governor

George Deukmejian Courken George Deukmejian Jr. ( ; June 6, 1928May 8, 2018) was an American politician who served as the 35th governor of California from 1983 to 1991. A member of the Republican Party, he was the state's first governor of Armenian descent. B ...

elevated Chin to the position of Associate Justice of the

California Court of Appeal The California Courts of Appeal are the state intermediate appellate courts in the U.S. state of California. The state is geographically divided along county lines into six appellate districts.

, First District. On August 17, 1994,

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Pete Wilson Peter Barton Wilson (born August 23, 1933) is an American attorney and politician who served as governor of California from 1991 to 1999. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Wilson previously served as a United S ...

appointed Chin as the Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, First District, Division Three, beginning January 2, 1995. In November 1994, he was elected to a 12-year term. On January 25, 1996, Governor Wilson appointed Chin as an associate justice of the

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Supreme Court. Chin was confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments and sworn in on March 1, 1996. He was retained by the electorate in 1998 and 2010. On December 16, 2014, Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye named Chin to the California Judicial Council for a two-year term. In his first decade on the court, he authored the most majority opinions at the Supreme Court. Among Chin's notable cases is his 2008 majority opinion in ''Silicon Valley Taxpayers' Assn., Inc. v. Santa Clara County Open Space Authority'', a landmark California

separation of powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state (polity), state power (usually Legislature#Legislation, law-making, adjudication, and Executive (government)#Function, execution) and requires these operat ...

case regarding Proposition 218. On August 31, 2020, Chin retired from the California Supreme Court. On October 5, 2020, Governor

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

announced that his seat would be filled by Martin Jenkins.

Civic activities

Chin was elected president of the Alameda County Bar Association. He served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of San Francisco.

Honors and awards

Chin has received a series of honors from his ''alma mater''. In 1988, he was selected as the USF Alumnus of the Year. In 1993, he was named USF Law School Alumnus of the Year. Finally, in 1996 USF Law School presented him with the St. Thomas More Award. Chin was also awarded honorary

LL.D. A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...

degrees in 1996 by Southwestern Law School, in 2001 by

California Western School of Law California Western School of Law is a private law school in San Diego, California. It is one of two successor organizations to California Western University, the other being Alliant International University. The school was founded in 1924, app ...

, and in 2002 by

Pepperdine University School of Law The Pepperdine University School of Law (officially the Pepperdine University Rick J. Caruso School of Law) is the law school of Pepperdine University, a private research university in Los Angeles County, California. The school offers the Juri ...

Personal life

In 1971, Chin wed Carol Joe, a pharmacist, with whom he has two children: Jennifer (b. 1974) and Jason (b. 1976). Chin is of Chinese descent.

References

Selected publications

* * (Hein paid subscription
Lexis-Nexis
paid subscription)

Videos

External links

California State Courts.
Profile
Bloomberg.com.
Court opinions authored by Ming Chin
Courtlistener.com

California State Courts.

California Court of Appeal, First District. , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Chin, Ming 1942 births Living people Justices of the Supreme Court of California Judges of the California Courts of Appeal Superior court judges in the United States University of San Francisco alumni United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army officers American jurists of Chinese descent Politicians from Klamath Falls, Oregon Lawyers from San Francisco Lawyers from Oakland, California American legal writers California Republicans 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges California politicians of Chinese descent Military personnel from California Military personnel from Oregon Bellarmine College Preparatory alumni