As we approach the Lunar New Year, I take this opportunity to reflect on how much progress Asian Americans have made in the New York State judiciary and how much work there is still left to be done. In the 1970s, it was lonely practicing law as an Asian American, and I could count the number of Asian American lawyers in New York City on one hand. And as a lawyer, I never appeared in front of an Asian American judge. In 1983, at just 35 years old, Mayor Ed Koch appointed me to the Criminal Court of the City of New York, making me the first Asian American judge in New York State.

In the 40 years since, much progress has been made, but much is still left to be accomplished. Asian American judges now account for approximately 5% of the New York State judiciary. Out of the 1,300 state paid judges, only 68 identify as an Asian American. Almost all of those judges are located in New York City. Notably, Judge Bernard Cheng had a groundbreaking election outside of New York City when he was elected to the Suffolk County Family Court in November 2010. We did not have our first Asian American judge elected north of New York City until 2020, when Meredith Vacca—who is now a U.S. district judge for the Western District of New York—was elected to Monroe County Court, and Judge Hyun Chin Kim was elected to Orange County Court. The majority of our judges today have been on the bench six years or less.