Rita F. Lin

Rita Lin
Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
Incumbent
Assumed office
October 4, 2023
Appointed byJoe Biden
Preceded byEdward M. Chen
Judge of the San Francisco County Superior Court
In office
June 27, 2018 – October 4, 2023
Appointed byJerry Brown
Preceded byKsenia Tsenin
Succeeded byBrian J. Stretch[1]
Personal details
Born
Rita Faye Lin

1978 (age 45–46)
Oakland, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic[2]
EducationHarvard University (AB, JD)

Rita Faye Lin (born 1978)[3] is an American lawyer who is serving as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. She previously served as an associate judge of the San Francisco County Superior Court.

Education

Lin earned a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University in 2000 and a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School in 2003.[4]

Career

From 2003 to 2004, Lin served as a law clerk for Judge Sandra Lynch of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. She joined Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco as an associate in 2004 and later became a partner at the firm. From 2014 to 2018, she served as an assistant United States attorney for the Northern District of California. She was appointed to serve as a judge of the San Francisco County Superior Court by Governor Jerry Brown in 2018.[5][6] Lin is an adjunct professor of law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law,[7] where in the fall 2021 semester she co-taught a course on criminal procedure.[3]

Lin worked pro bono as co-counsel against the Defense of Marriage Act, which was declared unconstitutional on February 22, 2012, in U.S. District Court in California.[8]

Federal judicial service

On July 29, 2022, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Lin to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.[4] On August 1, 2022, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated Lin to the seat vacated by Judge Edward M. Chen, who assumed senior status on May 17, 2022.[9] On November 30, 2022, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[10] During her confirmation hearing, she was questioned about a 1998 article she wrote while a student at Harvard College - she was a junior at the time. In the article, Lin wrote that members of the Christian coalition are "bigots". Lin said she no longer agrees with that view.[11]

On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the President under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate. She was renominated on January 23, 2023.[12] On February 9, 2023, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–9 vote.[13] On September 19, 2023, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 52–45 vote.[14] Later that day, her nomination was confirmed by a 52–45 vote.[15] She received her judicial commission on October 4, 2023.[16] Lin is the second Asian Pacific American woman—and first Chinese American woman—to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.[6]

Personal life

Lin has a hearing disability being deaf in her right ear and partially deaf in her left.[17][10][18]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Governor Newsom Announces Judicial Appointments 1.29.24". January 30, 2024.
  2. ^ "Governor Brown Appoints 10 Superior Court Judges". June 27, 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved November 29, 2022.
  4. ^ a b "President Biden Names Twenty-Fourth Round of Judicial Nominees" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. July 29, 2022. Retrieved July 29, 2022. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  5. ^ "MOFO ALUMNA SPOTLIGHT: JUDGE RITA F. LIN". together.mofo.com. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  6. ^ a b DiFeliciantonio, Chase (July 29, 2022). "Biden selects two judicial nominees for Northern District bench, continuing streak of diverse appointments". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  7. ^ "Rita Lin". UC Hastings Law | San Francisco. Retrieved July 29, 2022.
  8. ^ "Rita Lin". The Recorder. Retrieved August 1, 2022.
  9. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. August 1, 2022.
  10. ^ a b "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. November 30, 2022.
  11. ^ Schemmel, Alec (November 30, 2022). "Biden judicial nominee slammed for claiming 'the Christian coalition' is full of 'bigots'". WCIV. Retrieved December 26, 2022.
  12. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 23, 2023.
  13. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – February 9, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved February 9, 2023.
  14. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Rita F. Lin to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of California)". United States Senate. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  15. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Rita F. Lin, of California, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of California)". United States Senate. September 19, 2023. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  16. ^ Rita F. Lin at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  17. ^ Raji, Tobi (August 6, 2024). "Biden made U.S. courts more diverse. Six judges discuss why it matters". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  18. ^ Arken, James (November 30, 2022). "GOP Sens. Question Judge Picks On Crime, 2nd Amendment - Law360 Pulse". Law360. (subscription required)
Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
2023–present 		Incumbent