Entrevistas

1. Family’s Japanese roots and values

2. The lack of discussion about family’s incarceration in Amache

3. Her desire to help at-risk and dependent youth

4. Her motto came from her mother

5. Unique perspective that a judge can bring to community organizations

6. How she transitioned from anthropology to law

7. Mother founded Japanese language school in neighbors’ backyard

Wasserman,Fumiko Hachiya

Juíza Sansei do Tribunal Superior do Condado de Los Angeles na Califórnia

How she transitioned from anthropology to law

I became an Anthropology Major with a Sociology Minor. I thought I’d become an anthropologist; I went for my teaching credential after that because I could not really support myself nor my fiancé after we got married on a grant from anthropology which would have required me to be, most likely, out of the country. I would have to write, you know, get someone to sponsor me to work for a PhD. So I became a research assistant and an exam grader also in the Department of Education.

How I changed over was I became pregnant after I’d been teaching, I had my tenure. The school district only gave you one year leave of absence, and I wasn’t ready to go back to teaching at that point. I had done some volunteer work at legal aid when my husband was going to law school at USC. And part of it was they were trying to reach out to the Asian community, so I had gone and done some volunteer work when we went to Chinatown, then I took my father with me to translate and we went into Little Tokyo in order to establish services for the Asian American community. And that’s how I transitioned into law. It would — I thought it would give me greater flexibility, and it also gave me an avenue to serve.

juízes Direito ocupações (emprego)

Data: July 27, 2018

Localização Geográfica: California, US

Entrevistado: Kiya Matsuno

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

Entrevistados

A juíza Fumiko Hachiya Wasserman é uma juíza Sansei do Tribunal Superior do Condado de Los Angeles, na Califórnia. Nasceu em Torrance, Califórnia, e cresceu na cidade de Harbor, Califórnia. Foi a primeira mulher asiática-americana contratada pelo escritório da Procuradoria dos EUA na Divisão Civil, a primeira autoridade minoritária eleita no Conselho Escolar de Torrance e a primeira juíza a servir no Instituto de Pesquisa Biomédica de Los Angeles. Atualmente, atua no tribunal de Los Padrinos como juíza local. Ela cresceu em um bairro diverso e acolhedor e sentia-se segura em ser nipo-americana. Ela é envolvida com a comunidade nipo-americana, trabalha para promover a diversidade e é mentora de advogados e juízes. (Junho de 2018)