Day: October 10, 2022

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NAPABA Commends Justice Goodwin H. Liu as Recipient ABA Spirit of Excellence Award

WASHINGTON — Oct. 5, 2022. This week, the American Bar Association’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession announced California Supreme Court Associate Justice Goodwin H. Liu as a recipient of its 2023 Spirit of Excellence Award. Each year, the ABA honors lawyers who have excelled in their fields and who have demonstrated an abiding commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal profession with this prestigious distinction.

An accomplished jurist, scholar, and professor, Justice Liu is a nationally recognized expert on constitutional law, education law and policy, implicit bias, and criminal justice reform. A graduate of Stanford, Oxford, and Yale Law School, and a former Rhodes Scholar, Justice Liu’s distinguished career includes serving as a former Supreme Court clerk, a key policy advisor at two federal agencies, and as a tenured professor and Associate Dean at the UC Berkeley School of Law. In 2011, Justice Liu was nominated and confirmed as an Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court.

Justice Liu is a towering figure in the Asian American legal community, and in particular for his groundbreaking work on the Portrait Project, a comprehensive, multi-year, data-driven study of Asian Americans in the law, conducted in partnership with NAPABA, which was a game-changer for raising awareness about the successes, challenges, and obstacles confronting Asian Americans in the legal profession.

“Justice Goodwin Liu has opened doors, broken down barriers, and been an unflinching champion of diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, not just for Asian Americans, but lawyers of all backgrounds,” said Acting NAPABA President A.B. Cruz III. “NAPABA is proud of its longstanding partnership with Justice Liu on the Portrait Project, and it was a privilege to nominate him for the ABA’s Spirit of Excellence Award. He is an inspiration for our members and beyond, as a role model for overcoming adversity in the pursuit of excellence in the legal profession.” 

In 2017, Justice Liu was the recipient of the NAPABA President’s Award, given to NAPABA members who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to NAPABA, the legal community, and the greater Asian Pacific American community.

Also receiving the 2023 Spirit of Excellence Award are:

  • Hon. Roger L. Gregory, Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit 
  • Reginald M. Turner, Immediate Past President of the ABA
  • Diandra Benally, General Counsel of the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation

The 2023 Spirit of Excellence Awards will be presented during a ceremony on February 4 at the ABA Midyear Meeting in New Orleans.

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The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), represents the interests of over 60,000 Asian Pacific American (APA) legal professionals and nearly 90 national, state, and local APA bar associations. NAPABA is a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting APA communities. Through its national network, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of the federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes the professional development of people of all backgrounds in the legal profession.

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NAPABA Announces 2022 President’s Award Winners

WASHINGTON – October 4, 2022. The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is proud to announce that the 2022 NAPABA President’s Award will be presented to two groundbreaking organizations that have made a true impact toward the betterment of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AA & NH/PIs) during a period of great upheaval for these communities. This year’s recipients are: The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) and the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF).

The NAPABA President’s Award is given annually to individuals or entities who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to the Asian Pacific American community.

“NAPABA is proud of our partnerships with these two remarkable organizations,” said Acting NAPABA President A.B. Cruz III. “The twin pandemics of COVID-19 and the resulting wave of anti-Asian hate have created unprecedented challenges for AA & NH/PIs. Both TAAF and APIAHF have responded by creating the desperately needed infrastructure to empower communities to meet these challenges head-on.”

TAAF was established to close the vast AA & NH/PI philanthropic and influence gap in the United States—despite being the fastest growing population in the country, only 0.20% of foundation grantmaking and less than 1% of corporate giving is directly targeted toward AA & NH/PI communities. Founded at the height of the pandemic and anti-Asian hate wave, TAAF has made the largest philanthropic commitment in history focused specifically on AA & NH/PI communities, with particular emphasis on combating anti-Asian hate, education, and narrative change, all areas of priority for NAPABA. Since its launch, TAAF has committed millions in order to develop a strategic response to anti-Asian hate, producing critical resources such as its Rapid Response Toolkit, and building infrastructure through AAPI Action Centers across the country. NAPABA serves as one of TAAF’s National Network partners in the ongoing effort to combat anti-Asian hate.

APIAHF is the oldest and largest health policy advocacy organization working with AA & NH/PI communities across the nation, in the US Territories, and with the US-affiliated Pacific jurisdictions. In partnership with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and over 30 national and community AA & NH/PI organizations—including NAPABA—APIAHF launched the National AA & NH/PI Health Response Partnership, a community-centered model that provides on-the-ground public health resources and assistance across the nation. The largest outreach and educational campaign ever conducted for the AA & NH/PI community, APIAHF and its partners provided linguistically tailored and culturally sensitive outreach and educational materials to increase COVID-19 vaccinations. In addressing the “dual pandemic,” NAPABA and APIAHF partnered together to develop a ground-breaking collection of Combat Hate Crimes Toolkits translated into 25 different Asian and NH/PI languages—the largest compilation of its kind. The two organizations also co-developed fact cards for those who may be unsure of their rights to a COVID-19 vaccination. Translated into 26 different Asian and NH/PI languages, this resource educates community members on the benefits of getting vaccinated and encourages them to receive their free COVID-19 vaccinations regardless of immigration status, health insurance coverage, and/or Social Security identification.

NAPABA congratulates TAAF and the APIAHF as this year’s honorees and will bestow the prestigious award on Friday, November 5 at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas during the 2022 NAPABA Convention.

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Center on Asian Americans and the Law & Fordham Law School Present a Screening of the Documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee”

On September 29, 2022, Fordham Law School Professor Thomas H. Lee and 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Denny Chin presented a screening of the documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee” at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus. Professor Lee currently co-chairs AABANY’s Academic Committee. Judge Chin served as AABANY’s President from 1992 to 1993. 

Judge Chin and Professor Lee hosted the screening in collaboration with Fordham Law School’s Center on Asian Americans and the Law. Judge Chin, Kathy Hirata Chin, Professor Thomas H. Lee, and other Fordham faculty members worked together to establish this new center earlier in 2022. The Center on Asian Americans and the Law is dedicated to promoting public education on the legal history of AAPIs, serving as a research hub for AAPI legal issues, and coordinating public advocacy and outreach efforts through law firms, corporations, and the public to advance justice for the AAPI community as a whole. 

The 2022 documentary “Free Chol Soo Lee,” by Julie Ha and Eugene Yi, tells the story of the pan-Asian, grassroots movement which mobilized in the ‘70s and ‘80s to assist Chol Soo Lee, a Korean immigrant who was wrongfully convicted for the 1973 murder of San Francisco Chinatown resident Yip Yee Tak. “Free Chol Soo Lee” follows the formation of the defense committee which came to Lee’s aid, along with the efforts of community members and attorneys who worked tirelessly to free Lee from prison. 

After the movie screening, Professor Thomas H. Lee held a Q&A session with Judge Chin. Judge Chin first spoke to the grim ending of the documentary, which covers the post-release struggles which faced Chol Soo Lee in his adjustment to freedom. Judge Chin noted that, “In recent years, a lot of re-entry courts have popped up. We started a re-entry court [The RISE Court] in the Southern District of New York in 2019 …. It’s such a terrific program. We had our second session of this group just yesterday, and we had three graduates talk to these guys [the enrollees of the current RISE Court cohort presided over by Judge Chin]. We’re up to five RISE courts in the New York City area.” Judge Chin stressed the important role which systems of support must play even after a person has been released from prison. 

Professor Lee capped off the event by asking Judge Chin a question geared towards law students and practicing attorneys: “How can law students and lawyers get involved [in issues of wrongful conviction such as that in the documentary]?” 

Judge Chin responded by reflecting on the effects of the movement around Chol Soo Lee on Asian American communities: “The real positive for this was the community. Ranko [Yamada] went to law school. Jeff Adachi became pretty high up in the legal field. Many of them [individuals involved with the defense committee for Chol Soo Lee] were inspired to go to law school…I think the law gives you tools to do a lot of different things. But whatever you do, you find some way to give back…For example, [trial] reenactments with AABANY, which have proven to be a great educational tool…Whether you realize it, lawyers do have power. When you’re learning the trade, you’re really learning how to make a change.” 

Judge Chin’s reference to AABANY’s trial reenactments recalls AABANY’s Trial Reenactment Team performing “Alice in Chinatown: Chol Soo Lee and His Fight for Freedom” at the 2018 NAPABA convention in Chicago. AABANY’s Trial Reenactment Team has scripted and performed scripted a number of other famous cases such as “Korematsu v. United States,” and the trial following the murder of Vincent Chin. Anticipating the foundational mission of Fordham Law School’s Center on Asian Americans and the Law, the AABANY Trial Reenactment Project was created to educate audiences about Asian American contributions to the development of American law and society. 

We are grateful to Judge Chin and Professor Lee for hosting this film screening, and thank Fordham Law School’s Center on Asian Americans and the Law for organizing this event.