I’ve proudly served as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of California. Before that I was a prosecutor for the city and county of San Francisco. Currently, I serve as a police commissioner. And, yes, I’m a lifelong member of the Republican Party.

During my nine years as a federal prosecutor, I appeared more than 50 times before a U.S. magistrate judge in San Francisco, Edward M. Chen. Some of these cases involved violent crime and drug trafficking. Time and again, Judge Chen proved that he is a fair, balanced, impartial and supremely competent jurist. And I believe that my colleagues in the law enforcement community share my assessment of him.

Why am I serving as a character witness for Judge Chen? Last year, President Barack Obama nominated him to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. While the confirmation of such a well-qualified jurist should be routine, he has been the object of outrageous attacks on his patriotism and impartiality by individuals and organizations who have never met or appeared before Judge Chen.

These attacks are unwarranted. While Judge Chen doesn’t always agree with my positions in court, he faithfully applies the rule of law and listens carefully to both sides. Contrary to what some critics suggest, Judge Chen’s former career as an advocate for the ACLU has never biased his decisions as a judge. Repeatedly, he has issued rulings contrary to arguments that he once made as a lawyer. As nine other former federal prosecutors and I wrote in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee supporting his nomination, he is an experienced judge who understands the distinction between personal preference and judicial obligation and who has always based his rulings —more than 300 decisions over eight years — solely on the law and on the merits of the case. At a time of several historic firsts in public service, including the first Latina Supreme Court justice, it is worth noting that Edward M. Chen would be the first Asian-American federal judge in Northern California, an area with a large and growing Asian-American population.

Judicial confirmations should be decided on the basis of the nominees’ fitness and fairness, not partisanship and political philosophy or unverified perceptions. When presidents of either party nominate qualified judges, the Senate should move expeditiously to confirm them based on their records. If Judge Chen, an experienced judge whose judicial record proves he is committed to the rule of law without bias or favor and who is widely respected by the bar that has practiced before him, isn’t qualified for the federal bench, who is?

Thomas P. Mazzucco is an attorney with Murphy Pearson Bradley & Feeney in San Francisco.

Editor’s note: The Senate Judiciary Committee approved Chen’s nomination on a party-line, 12-7, vote Thursday. No floor action has been scheduled yet.

Edward Chen: Portrait of a patriot

In his State of the Union address, President Obama implored members of Congress to rise above the highly partisan and often petty “if you lose, I win” mentality that seems to pervade Washington. A test of who will heed those words comes today, when the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take up Obama’s nomination of Edward Chen to become a U.S. District Court judge in Northern California.

Chen, 56, has become a target of the type of ideological smear campaign that corrodes the level of public discourse as the vacuous vitriol echoes in the blogosphere and on talk radio. Chen has been assailed in right-wing talking points as a radical who is obsessed with racial grievances and hates the country so much that he recoils at the sound of “America the Beautiful.”

There are two telling traits about the utter dishonesty in the trashing of Edward Chen. One, each of the anecdotes being used against him looks dramatically different in context. Two, the “case” against Chen does not include a shred of evidence from his nine years as a federal magistrate to challenge his dedication to administering the law in a fair and impartial manner.

The “America the Beautiful” example is the most common and the most outrageous distortion. Its origin was Chen’s May 20, 2005, speech to law graduates at the UC Hastings College of Law. Chen talked about being moved to tears when mourners sang the song during a service for Fred Korematsu, a U.S. citizen who had been convicted of defying the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. Chen had been a member of the legal team that helped overturn Korematsu’s conviction in 1983.

Chen extolled the beauty in the principles of patriotism – “freedom, justice and equality under the law” – and how adherence to those American values was so much deeper and enduring than waving a flag or singing a song. No reasonable person could read the full text of that speech and not be struck by Chen’s reverence for his country – and the song “America the Beautiful” too. Other Chen speeches and writings have been similarly distorted.

It seems that much of the “evidence” of Chen as a radical is drawn from his work for the ACLU. But, again, an attorney’s advocacy role is much different than that of a judge – and Magistrate Chen has demonstrated his full appreciation for the value of a neutral arbiter who can act with absolute fidelity to the law.

Chen should be confirmed.

Obama first nominated Judge Chen Aug. 7. The Senate Judiciary Committee approved him Oct. 15, thereby putting his nomination before the full Senate. Because his nomination was not acted upon before Congress adjourned for recess, Obama must re-nominate Judge Chen, and others, in accordance with Senate rules.

“Judge Chen has a demonstrated record as a balanced, fair and unbiased jurist through his faithful service as a U.S. magistrate judge for nearly nine years,” said Joseph J. Centeno, president of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association. “Judge Chen has a strong and well-deserved reputation for integrity and we look forward to his prompt confirmation by the Senate.”

Judge Chen has been a federal magistrate judge for the Northern District of California since April 2001.He was just reappointed to another eight-year term by the very judges he would join on the District Court. He was nominated by a bipartisan advisory commission, and his confirmation has garnered support from multiple bar associations, law enforcement officials and prosecutors. He also enjoys the strong support of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who recommended him to the president.

The American Bar Association bestowed its highest ranking, “unanimously well qualified,” upon him and the Bar Association of San Francisco rated him “exceptionally well qualified,” a distinction reserved for only the most exceptional candidates.

“Judge Chen has strong support from law enforcement,” said Karen K. Narasaki, president and executive director of the Asian American Justice Center. “In a bipartisan letter from the Coalition of Former Federal Prosecutors in the Northern District of California, the 11 signatories noted that Judge Chen is a jurist of the highest caliber who demonstrates a strong commitment to due process and upholding the rule of law, and that no one is more qualified to serve on the U.S. District Court for Northern California than Judge Chen.”

If confirmed, Judge Chen would become the first Asian Pacific American federal District Court judge in San Francisco, bringing long overdue diversity to the court that first rendered many infamous civil rights decisions affecting Asian Pacific Americans – including United States v. Korematsu and Yick Wo v. Hopkins. Notably, Judge Chen was also part of the original legal team that overturned the conviction of Fred Korematsu, 40 years after the fact.

Asian Pacific Americans constitute approximately 15 percent of California’s population. Moreover, although Asian Pacific Americans comprise more than 35 percent of the San Francisco area’s population, an Asian Pacific American has never sat on the federal District Court in that area in its entire 150 year history.

Centeno and Narasaki thank President Obama and Sen. Feinstein for supporting Judge Chen. He is the second Asian Pacific American she has recommended to the president for the federal judiciary.

The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) is the national association of Asian Pacific American attorneys, judges, law professors and law students. NAPABA represents the interests of over 40,000 attorneys and 62 local Asian Pacific American bar associations. Its members represent solo practitioners, large firm lawyers, corporate counsel, legal service and non-profit attorneys, and lawyers serving at all levels of government. NAPABA continues to be a leader in addressing civil rights issues confronting Asian Pacific American communities. Through its national network of committees and affiliates, NAPABA provides a strong voice for increased diversity of federal and state judiciaries, advocates for equal opportunity in the workplace, works to eliminate hate crimes and anti-immigrant sentiment, and promotes pr ofessional development of minorities in the legal profession.

The Asian American Justice Center is a national organization dedicated to defending and advancing the civil and human rights of Asian Americans. It works closely with three affiliates – the Asian American Institute in Chicago, the Asian Law Caucus in San Francisco and the Asian Pacific American Legal Center in Los Angeles – and nearly 100 community partners in 47 cities, 25 states and the District of Columbia.

The two district court nominees are Louis Butler Jr., a former Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, for the Western District of Wisconsin and Edward Chen, a U.S. magistrate judge, for the Northern District of California.

Obama has not issued a statement about renominating the six. The official who spoke about the administration’s plans did so on the condition of anonymity.

“I am honored to nominate these three distinguished candidates to the United States District Court bench,” said President Obama. “They exemplify the best in American jurisprudence and they will serve the people of California with integrity and fairness. I am grateful for their commitment to public service and look forward to their appointment to the federal bench.”

Judge Edward Milton Chen: Nominee for the Northern District of California
Judge Edward Chen currently serves as a U.S. Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California, a position he has held since 2001. Judge Chen received his undergraduate degree from the University of California – Berkeley in 1975 and his law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law in 1979. Immediately following law school, he served judicial clerkships for U.S. District Judge Charles B. Renfrew for the Northern District of California and U.S. Circuit Judge James R. Browning of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. From 1982 until 1985, he worked as an associate at the San Francisco firm of Coblentz, Cahen, McCabe & Breyer. Between 1985 and taking the bench in 2001, Judge Chen worked as a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, Northern California Chapter, where he was primarily engaged in civil litigation. Judge Chen is being nominated for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Dolly Gee: Nominee for the Central District of California
Dolly Gee is a managing partner in the Los Angeles law firm Schwartz, Steinsapir, Dohrmann & Sommers LLP, where she practices labor and employment litigation. She received her BA from UCLA in 1981 and her JD from UCLA Law School in 1984. After graduating from law school, she clerked for Judge Milton Schwartz on the District Court for the Eastern District of California. She has worked as a Regional Coordinator for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters supervising delegate elections, and has been an arbitrator for the Kaiser Permanente Independent Arbitration System since 2000. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center of Southern California and a past President of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association. She is being nominated to the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

Judge Richard Seeborg: Nominee for the Northern District of California
Judge Richard Seeborg is currently a United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of California, a position he has held since February 2001. Judge Seeborg previously worked at Morrison & Foerester, in both Palo Alto and San Francisco, where he served as an associate from 1982 to 1991 and an equity partner from 1998 to 2000. In between his two tenures at Morrison & Foerester, he served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in San Jose, California. From 1981 to 1982, Judge Seeborg was a law clerk to the Honorable John H. Pratt, U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Columbia. Judge Seeborg received a BA from Yale College in 1978 and a JD in 1981 from the Columbia University School of Law. Judge Seeborg is being nominated to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.