Herbert Young Cho Choy (January 6, 1916 – March 10, 2004) was the first Asian American to serve as a United States federal judge and the first person of Korean ancestry to be admitted to the bar in the United States. He served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Herbert Young Cho Choy
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Born 1916 in Makaweli, Kauai, HI
Died 2004 in Honolulu, HI
FJC ID: 426
Career output and lasting influence
Opinions attributed per year · peak 17/year
Later decisions citing those opinions, per year · peak 398/year
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals · 1971–2004
Both charts share the same year axis. Opinion counts include only opinions in our corpus attributed to this judge so far — a year at zero can mean an attribution gap, not judicial silence. Influence typically outlasts the career: citations keep climbing after the last opinion.
- Gender
- Male
- Race
- Asian American
Prior employment
- Private practice, Honolulu, Hawaii1946–1971
U.S. Army1942–1946- Hawaii Territorial Guard1941–1942
Appointments
1971–2004 · Appointed by Richard M. Nixon (Republican)Term ended: Death
Education
J.D. · 1941- University of HawaiiB.A. · 1938