As Judicial Nominee, Law Professor Goodwin Liu Lingers in Limbo

As Judicial Nominee, Law Professor Goodwin Liu Lingers in Limbo: A year after President Barack Obama nominated him to the federal bench, it remains uncertain whether University of California, Berkeley law professor and associate dean Goodwin Liu will ever assume the post.

That’s because the Senate has yet to vote on Liu, who would serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. And questions fired at Liu during two confirmation hearings, the most recent occurring last week, have underscored his status as one of Obama’s most controversial judicial nominees.

The San Francisco-based Ninth Circuit has jurisdiction over cases from California, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Arizona and Nevada. Political and legal observers estimate that 40 percent of this country’s Asian-Americans live in these states, but none currently sits on this appellate court. Furthermore, of the nation’s 875 federal judgeships, only 13 are held by Asians, and only one of those is at the appellate level, according to the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.