{{Short description|American judge (1916–2004)}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Herbert Choy | honorific_suffix = | image = Herbert_Choy.jpg | alt = | caption = | office = Senior Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | term_start = October 3, 1984 | term_end = March 10, 2004 | office1 = Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit | term_start1 = April 23, 1971 | term_end1 = October 3, 1984 | nominator1 = | appointer1 = Richard Nixon | predecessor1 = Stanley Barnes | successor1 = Melvin T. Brunetti | pronunciation = | birth_name = Herbert Young Cho Choy | birth_date = {{Birth date|1916|01|06}} | birth_place = Makaweli, Territory of Hawaii | death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|03|10|1916|01|06}} | death_place = Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | party = | other_party = | height = | spouse = {{marriage|Helen Shular Choy|June 19, 1945}} | partner = | relations = | children = | parents = | mother = | father = | relatives = | education = University of Hawaii (BA)<br>{{nowrap|Harvard University (JD)}} | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | known_for = | salary = | net_worth = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = <!--Embedded templates / Footnotes--> | module = {{Infobox Korean name/auto | child = yes | hangul = %최영조 }} }} '''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.<ref>{{cite web | date= March 12, 2004 | url = http://archives.starbulletin.com/2004/03/12/news/story14.html | title = Isle Judge was Asian Pioneer in the Law Field Nationwide | publisher=archives.starbulletin.com | accessdate = July 20, 2015}}</ref> He served as a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
==Education and career==
Born to Korean immigrants who worked in sugar plantations in Hawaii on January 6, 1916, in Makaweli, Kauai, Hawaii, Choy received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1938 from the University of Hawaii. He received a Juris Doctor in 1941 from Harvard Law School. He served in the Hawaii Territorial Guard from 1941 to 1942. He served in the United States Army from 1942 to 1946. In 1946, Choy served in the Judge Advocate General's Corps. Choy was in private practice in Honolulu, Hawaii, from 1946 to 1971. He was the first person of Korean ancestry to be admitted to the practice of law in the United States. He served with the law firm of Fong Miho Choy & Robinson from 1947 to 1957, with one of his partners being future United States Senator Hiram Fong. From 1957 to 1958, Choy served as Attorney General for the Territory of Hawaii.<ref name="auto">{{FJC Bio|426|nid=1379086|name=Herbert Young Cho Choy<!--(1916–2004)-->}}</ref>
==Federal judicial service== thumb|Choy in the 1970s. At the recommendation of Senator Fong, Choy was nominated by President Richard Nixon on April 7, 1971, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit vacated by Judge Stanley Barnes. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on April 21, 1971, and received his commission on April 23, 1971. He was the first Asian American on the federal bench as well as the first Hawaii native. He assumed senior status on October 3, 1984. His service terminated on March 10, 2004, due to his death.<ref name="auto"/>
===Former clerk=== In 2001, one of Choy's former law clerks, Richard Clifton, became the second judge from Hawaii to serve on the Ninth Circuit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.staradvertiser.com/2016/01/05/breaking-news/clifton-to-step-down-as-active-federal-appeals-court-judge/|title=Clifton to step down as active federal appeals court judge|date=2016-01-05|website=Honolulu Star-Advertiser|language=en-US|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2019-05-29}}</ref><ref name=":0" />
==Personal== Chou married Dorothy Helen "Henny" Shular on June 19, 1945.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://obits.staradvertiser.com/2018/04/08/helen-shular-choy/ | title=Helen Shular Choy Obituary | Honolulu Star-Advertiser }}</ref> They had no children.
==Death== Choy died in Honolulu on March 10, 2004, due to complications from pneumonia.<ref name=":0">{{cite web | date= March 12, 2004 | url = http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2004/Mar/12/ln/ln25a.html | title = Herbert Choy served on 9th Circuit Court | publisher=the.honoluluadvertiser.com | accessdate = July 20, 2015}}</ref>
==See also== {{main|List of Asian American jurists}} {{main|List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States}} *Shiro Kashiwa - first Japanese American federal judge (1972) *Masaji Marumoto - first Asian American territorial court justice (1956) *Kathryn Doi Todd - first female Asian American judge in the U.S. (1978) *Wilfred Tsukiyama - first Asian American state chief justice (1959) *Delbert E. Wong - first Chinese American judge in the continental U.S. (1959)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{FJC Bio|426|nid=1379086|name=Herbert Young Cho Choy<!--(1916–2004)-->}}
{{s-start}} {{s-legal}} {{s-bef|before=Stanley Barnes}} {{s-ttl|title={{nowrap|Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit}}|years=1971–1984}} {{s-aft|after=Melvin T. Brunetti}} {{s-end}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choy, Herbert}} Category:1916 births Category:2004 deaths Category:American politicians of Korean descent Category:Harvard Law School alumni Category:Hawaii attorneys general Category:Lawyers from Hawaii Category:Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Category:United States court of appeals judges appointed by Richard Nixon Category:American jurists of Korean descent Category:American military personnel of Korean descent Category:People from Hawaii of Korean descent Category:United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps Category:United States Army soldiers Category:University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Category:United States Army personnel of World War II Category:Deaths from pneumonia in Hawaii