Edward Milton Chen (born January 20, 1953) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and former United States magistrate judge of the same court.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Oakland, California,[1] Chen earned a bachelor's degree in 1975 from the University of California, Berkeley and a Juris Doctor from UC Berkeley School of Law in 1979.[2]

Career

After graduating law school, Chen clerked for Judge Charles Byron Renfrew of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California from June 1979 to April 1980 and Judge James R. Browning of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from June 1981 to June 1982.[2][3]

From 1982 until 1985, Chen served as an associate at the San Francisco law firm of Coblentz, Cahen, McCabe & Breyer.[2] In September 1985, Chen became a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, specializing in language discrimination cases.[4] He held that post until April 2001, when the judges on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California named Chen to an eight-year term as a United States magistrate judge.[2]

Federal judicial service

Chen served as a United States magistrate judge from 2001 until 2011.[3]

On August 7, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Chen to a seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California vacated by the resignation of Martin Jenkins.[2] On October 15, 2009, the Senate Judiciary Committee advanced his nomination by a 12–7 vote.[5][6] On December 24, 2009, the U.S. Senate returned Chen's nomination to the president. Senator Feinstein in an interview published in the San Francisco Chronicle on December 29, 2009 reiterated her support for Judge Chen and her hope that the President would renominate Judge Chen for the U.S. District Court.[7] President Obama renominated Chen in January 2010, and the Senate Judiciary Committee approved his nomination on February 4, 2010.[5] On August 5, 2010, the U.S. Senate again returned Chen's nomination for failure to confirm him.[8] President Obama renominated Chen to the seat on September 13, 2010 and again on January 5, 2011.[9] On May 10, 2011, the United States Senate confirmed Chen by a 56–42 vote.[10] He received his judicial commission on May 12, 2011.[3] Since being confirmed as a District Judge, Chen has been a prolific writer, authoring a number of major opinions. According to one legal news source, Judge Chen is the 4th most-influential district judge appointed since 2010.[11] The same source later named Judge Chen one of the "7 Rising Star Judges You Want to Clerk For."[12] Chen assumed senior status on May 17, 2022.[3]

Notable cases

Chen's notable cases have included the civil trial regarding the shooting of Oscar Grant by a Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Department officer,[13] the criminal prosecution of former Korn Ferry executive David Nosal for hacking,[14] and a number of cases being brought against Uber regarding the classification of its drivers as independent contractors.[15][16] On June 21, 2012, the charity fraud case of Carreon v. Inman et al, which has achieved some prominence on the Internet, was assigned to Chen.[17]

Judge Chen also presided over a historic trial brought by the Food and Water Watch et al. against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) relevant to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) and water fluoridation .[18] On September 24, 2024, Judge Chen found for the plaintiff, ordering the EPA to mitigate the risk per TSCA regulations. He wrote in his decision that "the Court finds that fluoridation of water at 0.7 milligrams per liter (“mg/L”) – the level presently considered “optimal” in the United States – poses an unreasonable risk of reduced IQ in children." He further wrote: "This order does not dictate precisely what that response must be. Amended TSCA leaves that decision in the first instance to the EPA. One thing the EPA cannot do, however, in the face of this Court’s finding, is to ignore that risk."[19]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Hearing on the nomination of Edward M Chen" (PDF). nabapa.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 20, 2011. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e President Obama Nominates Edward Milton Chen, Dolly Gee and Richard Seeborg to Serve on the District Court Bench, whitehouse.gov (August 7, 2009).
  3. ^ a b c d Edward M. Chen at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  4. ^ Kim, Ryan (April 27, 2001). "Asian magistrate is a first in S.F. / Chen was discrimination specialist at ACLU". San Francisco Chronicle. p. A25. Archived from the original on February 23, 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  5. ^ a b Bob Egelko (February 5, 2010). "Senate panel backs Obama's judge nominee". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  6. ^ Bob Egelko (2009-12-25). "Senate OKs magistrate as federal judge in S.F." San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2009-12-25.
  7. ^ Bob Egelko (December 29, 2009). "Senate GOP opposes S.F. judicial nominee". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved February 5, 2010.
  8. ^ U.S. Senate (2010-08-05). "NOMINATIONS RETURNED TO THE PRESIDENT".[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ Bob Egelko (2010-08-07). "Republicans block Bay Area judicial nominees". San Francisco Chronicle.
  10. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation Edward Milton Chen, of California, to be U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of California)". senate.gov. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
  11. ^ Kassam, Kerry (23 April 2015). "Judging The Judges: Who Are the Most-Cited New Jurists On The Federal Bench?".
  12. ^ Larsen, Megan (2 April 2015). "7 Rising Star Judges You Want To Clerk For".
  13. ^ "Oscar Grant case: Civil jury rules in favor of Johannes Mehserle, denies award to slain man's father – The Mercury News". July 2014.
  14. ^ "Executive's conviction upheld in trade-secrets theft". 16 August 2013.
  15. ^ Griswold, Alison (1 September 2015). "A Federal Judge Just Shredded Uber's Arguments Against a Major Class-Action Lawsuit". Slate.
  16. ^ "Uber Case Drives SF Judge Into Spotlight".
  17. ^ "Carreon v. Inman et al". Justia. Retrieved 2012-07-01.
  18. ^ "Court Details: 17-2162 - Food & Water Watch, Inc. et al v. Environmental Protection Agency et al".
  19. ^ "Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law: Food and Water Watch et al v. Environmental Protection Agency et al". FWW. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
2011–2022 		Succeeded by
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_M._Chen
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