Entrevistas

1. On the Impact of the Camp Experience

2. Coming into Japanese Culture and Heritage

3. “I had no idea about studying law…”

4. “How did I end up going to law school?”

5. Opening Up Shop in Little Tokyo

6. The Other Two JA women lawyers in Los Angeles—Chiyoko Sakamoto and Madge Watai

7. On Generational Differences in JABA’s Early Years

8. The Founding of JABA: Getting Judges Appointed

9. “If I hadn’t gone to that meeting…”

10. On Hon. Edward Kakita and JABA’s early efforts

11. JABA: On Engaging Students and Community

12. On the Importance of Role Models

13. On Getting the Call from J. Anthony Kline

14. On Being a New Judge and a New Mother

15. On Justice Todd’s Daughter, Mia Doi Todd

16. On Justice Todd’s Involvement with the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center

17. On Working in the Appellate Court

Todd,Kathryn Doi

(n. 1942) A primeira juíza americana de descendência oriental

On Hon. Edward Kakita and JABA’s early efforts

But I tell you what we did in those early days of JABA (Japanese American Bar Association). In those days, it wasn’t the—there wasn’t a commission on…a JNE¹ commission, the judicial…the evaluation committee. Instead, the members of the state bar Board of Governors were the people who vetted all the judge applicants. So it was very important to get to know those people. And so Ed [Kakita] was very strategic about all of those things, so every time we had a big meeting—our installation, for example—he invited…or we invited all the members of the State Bar Board of Governors as our guests, and they would come. They would come. There were a few minority members at the time, of the state bar Board of Governors—those were basically the governor’s appointees. They were people who were not lawyers, generally. But we became very friendly with the state bar Board of Governors. We invited them to events that we had, and that made a significant difference in our access. And if you look at the appointments early on, you’ll probably be very surprised at the number of Japanese Americans who were appointed, and I know that it was a direct result of that kind of effort that Ed Kakita started. Note 1: Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE, “Jenny”)

Direito

Data: July 10, 2012

Localização Geográfica: California, US

Entrevistado: Lawrence Lan

País: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum; Japanese American Bar Association

Entrevistados

A juíza Kathryn Doi Todd nasceu em 4 de janeiro de 1942, um mês antes do presidente Franklin D. Roosevelt assinar a Ordem Executiva 9066, devido a qual ela e sua família foram encarcerados no campo de concentração de Heart Mountain no estado de Wyoming, e no campo de concentração de Tule Lake no norte da Califórnia.

Após a Segunda Guerra Mundial, sua família retornou para Los Angeles, onde ela cresceu. Todd se formou na Los Angeles High School [Escola Secundária de Los Angeles] e mais tarde cursou a Universidade de Stanford, onde foi diplomada em História em 1963. Ela eventualmente cursou a Faculdade Loyola de Direito [em Los Angeles] onde se formou em 1970.

A carreira de direito de Todd teve início quando ela abriu sua própria prática de direito civil no bairro de Little Tokyo em Los Angeles, numa época onde havia apenas três advogadas nipo-americanas trabalhando na cidade. Em meados dos anos 70, Todd e alguns outros juristas nipo-americanos se uniram para fundar a Associação Nipo-Americana de Direito (JABA), cujo objetivo principal era aumentar o número de juízes nipo-americanos.

Em 1978, o governador [da Califórnia] Jerry Brown indicou Todd para o Tribunal Municipal do Condado de Los Angeles, lhe concedendo assim a distinção de ser a primeira juíza americana de descendência oriental. Três anos mais tarde, em 1981, Brown a promoveu para o Tribunal Superior do Condado de Los Angeles. Em 2000, o governador Gray Davis indicou Todd para a Segunda Divisão do Segundo Distrito do Tribunal de Apelação da Califórnia, onde ela atualmente serve como Juíza Associada. (Julho 2012)