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

“If I hadn’t gone to that meeting…”

Ed Kakita and Rose Ochi had a plan to go to Sacramento to meet with the governor’s appointments secretary, who was J. Anthony Kline, Tony Kline, who’s now on the Court of Appeal in San Francisco. And it was their purpose to go and tout the Japanese Americans who were ready, willing, able, and wanted to be on the court or be elevated. And it turned out at the last minute that Rose couldn’t go, so Ed asked if I would go with him, and…so I did. And it was at that point I met Tony Kline at this meeting. We talked about these people who we thought should be appointed or elevated, and Tony Kline told us that Governor Jerry Brown was very, very interested in appointing minorities to the bench. And they were looking around the state for people to appoint. And, he said, that they were having a hard time. First of all, you know, in those days, there was a Municipal Court and a Superior Court. To be on the Municipal Court, you had to have five years as a lawyer, and to be on the Superior Court, you needed ten. So he mentioned that they were having a hard time finding people, not only who were qualified but who were interested in doing this. So that was an interesting revelation for me to learn this. It had never, ever occurred to me to seek a judgeship before I heard that. And I thought, well, maybe I would have an opportunity to be appointed. And that’s basically the reason that I put an application in. If I hadn’t gone to that meeting and hadn’t been in that conversation…and also, Ed Kakita was very encouraging [to me].

Direito juízes Tribunal Superior da Califórnia

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)