Thomas Tang

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Thomas Tang
Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
In office
October 12, 1993 –July 18, 1995
Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
In office
October 12, 1977 –October 12, 1993
Appointed by Jimmy Carter
Preceded by Richard Harvey Chambers
Succeeded by Michael Daly Hawkins
Personal details
Born(1922-01-11)January 11, 1922
Phoenix, Arizona
DiedJuly 18, 1995(1995-07-18) (aged 73)
Phoenix, Arizona
Education Santa Clara University (B.S.)
James E. Rogers College of Law (LL.B.)

Thomas Tang (January 11, 1922 – July 18, 1995) was a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the first American of Chinese descent appointed to the federal judiciary.

United States federal judge position in the USA

In the United States, the title of federal judge means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate pursuant to the Appointments Clause in Article II of the United States Constitution.

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the districts of Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is a U.S. Federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:

The judiciary is the system of courts that interprets and applies the law in the name of the state. The judiciary can also be thought of as the mechanism for the resolution of disputes. Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the judiciary generally does not make statutory law or enforce law, but rather interprets law and applies it to the facts of each case. However, in some countries the judiciary does make common law, setting precedent for other courts to follow. This branch of the state is often tasked with ensuring equal justice under law.

Contents

Education and career

The son of a grocery owner, Tang was born and spent his early years in Phoenix, Arizona, where he attended public schools. He joined the military through ROTC in 1942 and became a First Lieutenant in the United States Army. After graduation from the Santa Clara University with a Bachelor of Science degree and the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Laws, he was again commissioned to the Army and served on the Korean peninsula during the Korean War. In 1952, Tang resigned from the Army and after a brief stint of private practice, served as Deputy County Attorney of Maricopa County, Arizona from 1952 to 1957 and Assistant Attorney General of Arizona from 1957 to 1959. He was then elected to the Phoenix City Council in 1960, and a Judge of the Superior Court of Arizona in 1963. [1] During his tenure as Superior Court Judge, numerous lawyers who later rose to great eminence appeared before him, former United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor being one of them. After losing his judicial re-election in 1970, due to a highly publicized juvenile murder trial in which he was accused for being too lenient, Tang returned to private practice.[ citation needed ]

Phoenix, Arizona State capital city in Arizona, United States

Phoenix is the capital and most populous city of Arizona, with 1,626,078 people. It is also the fifth most populous city in the United States, and the most populous American state capital, and the only state capital with a population of more than one million residents.

Arizona state of the United States of America

Arizona is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the Western and the Mountain states. It is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona shares the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico; its other neighboring states are Nevada and California to the west and the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California to the south and southwest.

United States Army Land warfare branch of the United States Armed Forces

The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution. As the oldest and most senior branch of the U.S. military in order of precedence, the modern U.S. Army has its roots in the Continental Army, which was formed to fight the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783)—before the United States of America was established as a country. After the Revolutionary War, the Congress of the Confederation created the United States Army on 3 June 1784 to replace the disbanded Continental Army. The United States Army considers itself descended from the Continental Army, and dates its institutional inception from the origin of that armed force in 1775.

Federal judicial service

Tang was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on August 29, 1977, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated by Judge Richard Harvey Chambers. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on October 7, 1977, and received his commission on October 12, 1977. He assumed senior status on October 12, 1993. His service was terminated on July 18, 1995, due to his death of cancer at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Phoenix. [1] [2]

Jimmy Carter 39th president of the United States

James Earl Carter Jr. is an American politician and philanthropist who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A Democrat, he previously served as a Georgia State senator from 1963 to 1967 and as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975. Carter has remained active in public life during his post-presidency, and in 2002 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in co-founding the Carter Center.

Richard Harvey Chambers was a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

United States Senate Upper house of the United States Congress

The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, which along with the United States House of Representatives—the lower chamber—comprises the legislature of the United States. The Senate chamber is located in the north wing of the Capitol, in Washington, D.C.

Competition in his honor

In 1993, the APA Law Student Association of the South Texas College of Law, Houston, Texas named a national moot court competition in Tang's honor. The Thomas Tang Moot Court Competition is now administered by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) Law Foundation and the NAPABA Judicial Council. The Competition continues to honor the late Judge Tang, a champion of individual rights, an advocate for the advancement of minority attorneys, an ardent supporter of NAPABA and the moot court competition. Judge Tang’s wife, Dr. Pearl Tang, continues the legacy and participates every year. The competition is open to all students but is especially designed to reach out to APA law students and provide them with an opportunity to showcase their writing and oral skills and compete for scholarships. [3]

The Thomas Tang International Moot Court Competition, also known as the Tang, is a moot court competition sponsored by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, attracting participants from law schools in the U.S. and Asia.

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References

  1. 1 2 Thomas Tang at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges , a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center .
  2. ↑ Saxon, Wolfgang. "Thomas Tang, 73, Senior Judge For a Federal Court of Appeals".
  3. ↑ "Thomas Tang Moot Court". napabalawfoundation.org. Retrieved February 7, 2019.

Additional sources

The Biographical Directory of Federal Judges is a publication of the Federal Judicial Center providing basic biographical information on all past and present United States federal court Article III judges.

The public domain consists of all the creative works to which no exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly waived, or may be inapplicable.

Federal Judicial Center

The Federal Judicial Center is the education and research agency of the United States federal courts. It was established by Pub.L. 90–219 in 1967, at the recommendation of the Judicial Conference of the United States.

Legal offices
Preceded by
Richard Harvey Chambers 		Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
1977–1993		Succeeded by
Michael Daly Hawkins
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