Kenly Kiya Kato
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| Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California | |
| Assumed office November 17, 2023 | |
| Appointed by | Joe Biden |
| Preceded by | Beverly Reid O'Connell |
| Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California | |
| In office July 1, 2014 – November 17, 2023 | |
| Succeeded by | David T. Bristow |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1972 (age 51–52) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Education | University of California, Los Angeles (BA) Harvard University (JD) |
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Kenly Kiya Kato (born 1972)[1] is an American judge who has served as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California since 2023. She previously served as a United States magistrate judge of the same court from 2014 to 2023.
Kato is Japanese American; her parents, as children, were among those subjected to internment during World War II.[2] She earned her Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1993.[3] She graduated Phi Beta Kappa, with a major in political science.[4] She received a Juris Doctor, cum laude, in 1996 from Harvard Law School, where she was an editor of the Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review.[3]
Kato served as a law clerk for Judge Robert Mitsuhiro Takasugi of the United States District Court for the Central District of California from 1996 to 1997. From 1997 to 2003, she was a deputy federal public defender in the federal public defender's office in Los Angeles. From 2003 to 2004, Kato was an associate at Liner LLP in Los Angeles.[3]
From 2004 to 2014, she was a sole practitioner.[3] She primarily represented federal criminal defendants, and also represented clients in civil rights and labor disputes.[4] Prior to her appointment as a U.S. magistrate judge, she served on the federal district court's Merit Selection Panel and Standing Committee on Attorney Discipline.[4]
On July 1, 2014, Kato was sworn in as a United States magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.[4]
On December 15, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Kato to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.[3] President Biden nominated Kato to the seat vacated by Judge Beverly Reid O'Connell, who died on October 8, 2017.[5]
On February 1, 2022, a hearing was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[6] During her confirmation hearing, Senators Chuck Grassley and Ted Cruz questioned her about a 1995 book review, published in Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review, that Kato had co-written in law school; in a heated dialogue, the two Republicans questioned Kato about a footnote in the book review that said that Asian-American neoconservatives "internalize the dialogue of oppressors, believing in the values of the status quo and condemning the activism of their group."[2][7][8] Cruz also questioned her about her views on affirmative action.[2][7] Some Republicans also objected to Kato's past experience as a public defender.[9] Her nomination is supported by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.[7] On March 10, 2022, the committee failed to report her nomination by an 11–11 vote.[10]
On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the president under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the Senate; she was renominated the same day.[11] On February 9, 2023, her nomination was reported out of committee by a party-line 11–10 vote.[12] On November 7, 2023, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 50–47 vote.[13] Later that day, her nomination was confirmed by a 51–46 vote.[14] She received her judicial commission on November 17, 2023.[15]
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| Preceded by | Judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California 2023–present |
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