Pamela Ki Mai Chen (born March 30, 1961) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York The United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York (in case citations, E.D.N.Y.) is the United States district court, federal district court whose territorial jurisdiction spans five List of counties in New York, counties in ...

Biography

Chen was born in 1961 in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. She received her

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 ...

degree in 1983 from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

. She received her

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 1986 from

Georgetown University Law Center Georgetown University Law Center is the Law school in the United States, law school of Georgetown University, a Private university, private research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It was established in 1870 and is the largest law ...

. She started her career at the law firm of

Arnold & Porter Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP, doing business as Arnold & Porter, is an American multinational law firm. It is a white-shoe firm and among the largest law firms in the world, both by revenue and by number of lawyers. Arnold & Porter was f ...

from 1986 to 1989 and then moved to the criminal defense law firm of Asbill, Junkin, Myers & Buffone from 1989 to 1991, both law firms located in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

From 1991 to 1998, she was a trial attorney in the Special Litigation Section of the

Civil Rights division The Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice enforces federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. The division was established on December 9, 1957, b ...

at the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

. Beginning in 1998, she served as an

assistant United States attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...

in the Eastern District of New York, except for a four-month period in 2008, when she served as deputy commissioner for enforcement for the

New York State Division of Human Rights The New York State Division of Human Rights is a New York State agency created to enforce the state's Human Rights Law. The Division is a unit of the New York State Executive Department under New York Executive Law section 293."§ 293. Division of ...

. During her service in the United States Attorney's office, she held many supervisory positions, including chief of the civil rights section and deputy chief of the public integrity section.

Federal judicial service

On August 2, 2012, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

nominated Chen to serve as a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, to the seat vacated by Judge Raymond J. Dearie, who assumed senior status on April 3, 2011. Her nomination came at the recommendation of Senator

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York, a seat he has held since 1999. ...

. On September 19, 2012, the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

held a hearing on her nomination and reported her nomination to the floor on December 6, 2012, by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

. On January 2, 2013, her nomination was returned to the President, due to the

sine die Adjournment ''sine die'' (from Latin 'without a date') is the conclusion of a meeting by a deliberative assembly, such as a legislature or organizational board, without setting a date to reconvene. The assembly can reconvene, either in its pres ...

adjournment of the Senate. On January 3, 2013, she was renominated to the same office. Her nomination was reported by the

on February 14, 2013, by a voice vote. On March 4, 2013, the U.S. Senate confirmed Chen's nomination by

. She received her commission on March 5, 2013. Chen is the first openly LGBTQ+ Asian-American person to serve on the federal bench.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Pamela K. 1961 births Living people 21st-century American women judges American jurists of Chinese descent American lesbians American LGBTQ people of Asian descent Arnold & Porter people Assistant United States attorneys Georgetown University Law Center alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York Lawyers from Chicago LGBTQ appointed officials in the United States LGBTQ judges American LGBTQ lawyers United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama University of Michigan alumni 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers

Biography

Federal judicial service

See also

References

External links