Judge Anne Hwang – Nominee to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

Judge Anne Hwang currently serves on the Los Angeles County Superior Court. If confirmed to the federal bench, Hwang would bring a background in litigation and in indigent defense to the bench.

Background

Born in 1976, Anne Hwang received a B.A. from Cornell University in 1997 and a J.D. from the University of Southern California Law School in 2002. After graduating, Hwang worked as a litigation associate at Irell & Manella LLP for four years and then became a federal public defender with the Central District of California.

In December 2018, Hwang was appointed to the Superior Court for Los Angeles County by Governor Jerry Brown, where she has served since.

History of the Seat

Hwang has been nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, to a seat vacated on November 3, 2023, by Judge George Wu.

Legal Experience

Hwang started her legal career at the firm of Irell & Manella LLP. While at the firm, Hwang represented NBC Studios in a contract dispute with the production company Sander/Moses . See Sander/Moses Prods. Inc. v. NBC Studios, Inc., 48 Cal. Rptr. 3d 525 (Cal. App. 4th 2006).

Hwang spent the bulk of her career as a federal public defender based in Los Angeles. Notably, Hwang represented Veronica Garcia-Lopez who was convicted of illegally re-entering the United States after having previously been deported for trafficking 4.2 ounces of cocaine. See United States v. Garcia-Lopez, 691 F. Supp. 2d 1099 (C.D. Cal. 2010). Hwang was able to present sufficient mitigation to convince Judge Cormac Carney that the 41-51 month sentencing guidelines range was unduly harsh. See id. at 1101. Carney instead imposed a six month sentence on the defendant. See id. at 1105.

Jurisprudence

Since 2019, Hwang has served as a judge on the Los Angeles County Superior Court. In this role, Hwang presides over trial court matters in criminal, civil, family, and other state law matters. Notably, as a judge, Hwang dismissed a lawsuit brought against Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon and the probation department by the families of an officer fatally shot by an individual previously prosecuted and given a plea deal by Gascon. Judge Finds Issues with Suit’s Breach of Mandatory Duty Claims, My News LA, Sept. 11, 2023, https://mynewsla.com/crime/2023/09/11/judge-finds-issues-with-suits-breach-of-mandatory-duty-claims/#google_vignette. Hwang nonetheless allowed the plaintiffs to amend their suit. See id.

Hwang has also been active in the Korean American community as a judge, speaking, for example as a Korean American Bar Association event on implicit bias in 2022.

Overall Assessment

Having practiced both civil and criminal law in the Los Angeles area for two decades at this point, as well as serving as a sitting state court judge, Hwang can be deemed to have the experience needed to be a U.S. District Judge. Nonetheless, Hwang’s nomination is likely to draw opposition based on her extensive experience in indigent defense, which has proved to be contentious in the confirmation process.

175 Comments

  1. Joe's avatar

    Haha. Blackburn is going to be apoplectic at that SJC hearing.

    Great news all around though. I was very concerned about this batch. We are down to just 12 (10 blue state and two appellate) vacancies. Although that doesn’t count Mangi/Kanter who may still get pulled.

    Liked by 2 people

    • Dequan's avatar

      Uuuggghhh… I guess the GOP are going full in on wasting floor time if we have to now start confirming local DC judges with cloture votes & confirmation votes instead of voice vote. Either way those judges need to get confirmed so mine as well do it while Menendez is out. I wish they could have added Maldonado too but I guess they want to be sure they can get to 50 without relying on Collins or Murkowski.

      Like

      • Thomas's avatar

        Although I would also be glad to get them confirmed by voice vote, it’s an urgent matter to get these judges confirmed, just to keep the court working, it has more than 20% of all judges vacant, was never at a full completement for 11 years, and the ones who are there may leave in deep frustration of no improvement in sight.

        Those 6 remaining nominees who are waiting for a floor vote will probably be the last ones who will be confirmed this year, as the other ones have not even had their hearings, so waiting is no option.

        Steve Daines has stated, that he won’t return his BS for Danna Jackson, no real surprise, so Judge Christensen might have to stay for a while.

        Liked by 1 person

      • Dequan's avatar

        @Thomas

        Yea I totally agree. It’s both past time to get the local DC nominees confirmed. I don’t understand why the Homeland Security Committee is so slow in having their hearings.

        Also dad but not surprising news about Daines. We always knew he wasn’t working in good faith. I just hope Tester can use Jackson as a campaign issue to help him get reelected with increasing the Indian American vote.

        Like

    • tsb1991's avatar

      The Senate at least returns on a Monday after the break, so it’s a full week, so the possibility more cloture motions get sent out then, although the cloture motions sent out today should cover the Senate sometime into Wednesday.

      They do have a hearing set for the week they return, in which Kidd should appear. I still haven’t seen anything from Rubio or Scott about him, although I did see a tweet today about how Scott wasn’t consulted on Shaw-Wilder but isn’t a hard no on her (yet). We also do have three weeks until we need the next batch of nominees from the White House.

      Really wish the Senate didn’t take off two weeks for 4th of July, given they are off a week in July for the RNC, there should be a tradeoff there…

      Liked by 1 person

    • Joe's avatar

      Regarding Durbin, even though it’s technically his decision, he was never going to make a decision on blue slips that didn’t come from Biden. I do agree though that the time has passed and it isn’t worth abandoning at this point. If they were ever going to do it they should’ve done it in early 2023.

      Liked by 1 person

  8. Rick's avatar

    So I guess were going to play the waiting game to see what happens w/Senator Menendez. If he is convicted, will he resign, will he be able to delay serving a sentence? as I think we will need that AYE vote from a NJ senator for several nominees assuming Manchin is going to be his hard ass self and vote NO on most of the nominees remaining who are controversial…

    And you figure 2 or 3 of yesterdays nominees will likely be 11-10 committee votes, so that means close votes on the floor

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dequan's avatar

      Yea it wouldn’t make sense now to nuke blue slips. It made the most sense right after the midterms. The administration should just repeat the Montana model & nominate nominees to various district court seats that will help motivate a certain base for the election.

      Dana Jackson should help with the Indian American vote. A similar strategy should be used for the vacancies in other states with vacancies. Wisconsin would be a great example of that. If Johnson is backtracking on the two moderate to left of center White meant he recommended than fine. Nominate a young union lawyer, civil rights lawyer, environmental activist, pro choice attorney or LGBT nominee & let him bash them for the next five months.

      Like

  11. Hank's avatar

    Nate Raymond on Bluesky stated that, as I suspected, Kermit Lipez will fully retire upon his daughter’s confirmation. Collins probably figured that if a liberal was going to join the bench anyways, she might as well get another liberal to fully retire (in addition to Lopez probably having friends in high places in Maine). Hopefully Julia Lipez turns out to be as solidly liberal as her father is.

    Bummer about Danna Jackson, though it’s exactly what I expected from someone like Daines. I really don’t think it was some political ploy to drive Native turnout in MT – I’m skeptical that there are everyday Native voters who were meh on Biden before, but follow the judiciary and really care who’s on the bench. Seems it’s more likely that Daines pulled a Ron Johnson and gave the WH the initial impression that he would sign off on Jackson, then either changed his mind or dropped the pretense of cooperation.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Dequan's avatar

      @Keystone

      Good catch. I didn’t even notice him. He seems reasonable, particularly compared to this Tennessee Republican delegation. I mean after all he could have EASILY won re-election, yet kept his pledge & didn’t run for another term. Sadly I doubt he had any sway at this point in regards to the 6th. Blackburn will throw a temper tantrum in a month again. You can almost bet your last dollar on that. But on the bright side now that Biden will fill the last of the three Tennessee seats on the 6th, it’s the last time we have to see her complain about her not being consulted (Unless Democrats actually ditch blue slips for district court seats in the future).

      @Hank

      That is possible. I remember @Gavi mentioned that’s the way things normally were done back in the day. I just can’t see in this day & age Biden nominating a district court nominee without home state approval unless it was to try & drive up the vote (Even a small percentage). Johnson publicly backed William Pocan before he was nominated. Neither Daines or Scott didn’t same for Jackson & Shaw-Wilder so I’m not sure if the two would fall into the same category.

      Like

      • tsb1991's avatar

        Tennessee is a good example of how even when both Senate seats are held of the opposite party of the President, the quality of those Senators still matter. Blackburn and Hagerty are both pretty big downgrades from Corker and Alexander. I’m sure Obama (and maybe even Biden as VP) had a far easier time dealing with Corker and Alexander during his presidency on judges than Biden has with Blackburn now. Another good example is Idaho, it’s a very red state but Risch and Crapo aren’t as nutty as the electorate in that state (I believe Trump’s Idaho District Court appointee was someone Obama nominated with a Republican Senate, voice voted out of the SJC and never confirmed by the Senate, and both Senators said they were fine with Trump renominating that judge even though all three of them could have gotten anybody they wanted), whoever succeeds either of them will be far worse. Also the same in Texas, going from Hutchison to Cruz was a definite downgrade, Portman to Vance in Ohio, Blunt to Schmitt in Missouri, even in Mississippi going from Cochran to Hyde-Smith (Cochran probably returns a blue slip for Colom IMO, he was kinda one of those old-school southern Republicans).

        Liked by 3 people

  12. Dequan's avatar

    Well that didn’t take long. Blackburn seems as pissed as ever. She may be having her worst week since becoming a senator. First Seth Aframe got confirmed. Then Biden’s 200th federal judge got confirmed. And today she is 3 for 3 getting circuit court nominees shoved down her throat. EMS may be needed to be on standby for the SJC hearing next month. Her head may literally explode this time… Lol

    At least this time the WH is pushing back against her & forcefully. “Consultation is not a veto”. I couldn’t have said it better.

    (https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/biden-nominates-us-appellate-judges-daughter-join-same-court-2024-05-23/)

    Like

  14. Mitch's avatar

    I did a little research on Karla Campbell. Her law practice focuses on labor law and she’s an expert on the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. She’s also done some civil and appellate law.

    Before joining her law firm, she served in the Peace Corps in Ecuador for three years.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Jamie's avatar

      She’s basically a younger version of Judge Stranch (whose labor and ERISA work was big reason why Stranch was nominated).

      The WH realizes after Blackburn’s behavior with Kevin Ritz (a very reasonable compromise) that she is only interested in obstruction and they nominated someone who they wanted.

      As I said before, Ryan Park looks likely for CA4-NC.

      Liked by 2 people

  15. Mike S.'s avatar

    I’m very pleased (and pleasantly surprised) how the White House has proceeded with the two Sixth Circuit nominees in TN. It’s great seeing how pissed off Blackburn has been getting… particularly because it sounds like she was actually consulted. She is another one, just like Daines in MT, whose objections are based on pure theatrics. Same goes for Rick Scott in FL – I hope he loses the majority leader race. I would actually like to see John Thune win. Not only did he work in good faith with the White House to (eventually) fill judicial vacancies in his state, and despite not agreeing with his politics, he is one of the few principled Republicans in the Senate currently.

    In regards to the Lipez nomination, which I am also pleased about, her father has indicated that he will retire from the court once she is confirmed. I know this has happened once or twice (E.D. Arkansas comes to mind?), usually when the child is confirmed, the parent retires from the court. I guess my question relates to when William Fletcher was confirmed during the end of the Clinton Administration, his mother Judge Betty Binns Fletcher assumed senior status, but did not retire outright (she served as a senior judge on the 9th Circ. for nearly 20 more years). I’m very curious as to what the actual requirements are – senior status or outright retirement?

    When I looked at Judge Betty Binns Fletcher’s wikipedia page, there is the following note, which I thought was pretty cool:

    “Several of Fletcher’s clerks were nominated to administrative and judicial positions during the Joe Biden administration, including Tiffany Cartwright, Kalpana Kotagal, Alison Nathan, and Jennifer Sung. Thus far Biden has nominated more judges who clerked for Fletcher than for any other judge.”

    Liked by 2 people

    • Dequan's avatar

      That’s surprising to see judge Fletcher in the judge a Biden has nominated the most law clerks from. I noticed law clerks from judge Roger Gregory from the last few batches. I would suspect he may be second & possibly take over first place eventually. Especially if the administration is trying to gently remind him the next generation is willing & able to take over & now is a good time to take senior status.

      Like

    • Hank's avatar

      I’m not surprised that Biden has nominated lots of former Betty Binns Fletcher clerks – she was a very progressive judge (and a fantastic one at that), and my impression is that she made an extra effort to hire women given the discrimination she faced at the beginning of her career. Given that putting more women and progressives on the bench has clearly been a priority for this WH, it makes sense to nominate a lot of Fletcher clerks.

      Have there been recent Gregory clerks other than Kidd to CA11? I’ve been surprised and disappointed that Gregory hasn’t gone senior – he’s a solid liberal on CA4 and has been on the bench for more than 23 years, so you think he would step back while he could be replaced by a sane person (and maybe one of his former clerks). The WH could probably still get someone confirmed if Gregory announces senior status/retirement now, but that’s cutting it real close.

      Liked by 1 person

  16. Jamie's avatar

    I don’t know if this was discussed, but more hideous flags flown at Samuel Alito’s home.

    “This time, it was the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which, like the inverted U.S. flag, was carried by rioters at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Also known as the Pine Tree flag, it dates back to the Revolutionary War, but largely fell into obscurity until recent years and is now a symbol of support for former President Donald J. Trump, for a religious strand of the “Stop the Steal” campaign and for a push to remake American government in Christian terms.”

    https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/22/us/justice-alito-flag-appeal-to-heaven.html

    Liked by 1 person

  17. Zack's avatar

    Couple of things.

    1) Surprised by the choice of Julia Lipez to the 1st Circuit, as I was sure part of the deal with Collins to get Aframe over the hump was to nominate someone more centrist or right leaning to that seat.Of course, we don’t yet if she’ll be as liberal as her father will be but I think she will be solid overall.

    2) As a resident of NY who had to watch the 2nd Circuit get four far right Federalist Society members hacks onto despite having no Republicans senators and seeing the same thing happen to other states with Democratic senators, I’m glad to see someone finally told Blackburn to stuff it.
    She had no qualms ignoring blue slips when her side was in charge but now that it’s happening to her state it’s bad? Screw that. As Tammy Baldwin said when Michael B. Brennan was shoved through over her objections, when the shoe is on the other foot, you won’t like it.
    Blackburn is reaping what she sowed, plain and simple.
    3) Mary Kay Lanthier is an excellent nominee for Vermont with her record and can’t wait to see her on the bench.
    I would have liked to see Jessica Brown break barriers as the first black woman on a district court in Vermont but the paper she wrote about early releases of some people from prison likely doomed her nomination.
    4) Seeing Campbell in TN gives me hope for the 4th Circuit nominee and that it will be someone like Ryan Park.
    I know it means district courts seats will be vacant but so be it, after SCOTUS, Circuit court seats are the prize.

    Liked by 2 people

  18. Dequan's avatar

    Senator Cornyn is on the senate floor right now talking about how the senate is not in session enough to get all of its work done. He said Mondays are basically a wash with at most one vote & then they are out of town in the early afternoon on Thursday’s. He said two & a half days a week along with all of the recess time they take is not enough time to get everything done. Now of course he threw in his speech the senate is wasting time confirming unqualified Biden nominees, but I agree with the rest of what he is saying.

    Like

Leave a reply to Joe Cancel reply