Debra Wong Yang
Encyclopedia
Debra Wong Yang was the United States Attorney
for the Central District of California
. She was appointed in May 2002 by President
George W. Bush
, who made her the first Asian American
woman to serve as a United States Attorney. In 2009, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
nominated Yang to a vacancy on the Los Angeles Police Commission.
Yang was born in 1959 to Cantonese
parents in Los Angeles. Her father was a successful CPA. The family later moved to Eagle Rock. Yang received her Juris Doctor
from Boston College
Law School.
. Yang was a founding member and officer of the first Asian American Bar Association in Chicago
, and she has been an officer and board member of the Southern California Chinese Lawyer Association.
In 2002, the Los Angeles City Council honored her for her long-standing commitment to victim's rights. The Asian Pacific Bar Association has selected her as the 2002 recipient of their Public Service Award. The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association selected her as the 2003 recipient of the Trailblazer Award. In 2004, she was appointed to the President's Council of Pitzer College
of the Claremont Colleges
, received Pitzer College's inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award, and was recognized by the Inglewood Court as a champion of civil rights.
Yang has been an adjunct professor at the USC School of Law
, where she taught trial advocacy. She has also been an instructor at the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and an instructor at California's Judicial College.
. She was appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1997 and became a member of the Los Angeles Superior Court bench in 2000. As a judge, Yang acted as the Supervising Judge for the Hollywood
Courthouse. She sat on the Criminal Law Advisory Committee and the Subcommittee on the Quality of Judicial Service for the Court's Judicial Council.
, Orange County
, Riverside County
, San Bernardino County
, Ventura County
, Santa Barbara County
and San Luis Obispo County
.
Yang served as an Assistant United States Attorney for approximately seven years prior to her judicial career. As a federal prosecutor, she handled violent crimes, white-collar crime
s, international money laundering
, arson
and computer crimes. As an Assistant United States Attorney, Yang successfully prosecuted a number of high-profile cases, including a Glendale
arson investigator convicted of setting fires throughout the state of California; the first federal carjacking
case in California; the kidnapping
of a local real estate
agent; and a computer hacker
who received what was then the longest prison sentence for computer intrusion.
Yang resigned her position as the United States Attorney for the Central District of California on November 11, 2006 to join Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Senator Dianne Feinstein
(D-CA) has raised questions about Yang's departure in light of the subsequent firing of seven US Attorneys. Yang's office had opened an investigation into the relationship between Rep. Jerry Lewis
(R-CA) and a lobbyist five months before she left to join the law firm that represented Rep. Lewis. Yang has denied that any pressure was put on her to resign.
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...
for the Central District of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. She was appointed in May 2002 by President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, who made her the first Asian American
Asian American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau definition of Asians as "Asian” refers to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent, including, for example, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan,...
woman to serve as a United States Attorney. In 2009, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Villaraigosa
Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa , born Antonio Ramón Villar, Jr., is the 41st and current Mayor of Los Angeles, California, the third Mexican American to have ever held office in the city of Los Angeles and the first in over 130 years. He is also the current president of the United States Conference of...
nominated Yang to a vacancy on the Los Angeles Police Commission.
Yang was born in 1959 to Cantonese
Cantonese people
The Cantonese people are Han people whose ancestral homes are in Guangdong, China. The term "Cantonese people" would then be synonymous with the Bun Dei sub-ethnic group, and is sometimes known as Gwong Fu Jan for this narrower definition...
parents in Los Angeles. Her father was a successful CPA. The family later moved to Eagle Rock. Yang received her Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Boston College
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
Law School.
Career
Yang served as President of The Chinese American Museum in Los Angeles, where she played an instrumental role in the creation of this new landmark for Southern CaliforniaSouthern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. Yang was a founding member and officer of the first Asian American Bar Association in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, and she has been an officer and board member of the Southern California Chinese Lawyer Association.
In 2002, the Los Angeles City Council honored her for her long-standing commitment to victim's rights. The Asian Pacific Bar Association has selected her as the 2002 recipient of their Public Service Award. The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association selected her as the 2003 recipient of the Trailblazer Award. In 2004, she was appointed to the President's Council of Pitzer College
Pitzer College
Pitzer College is a private residential liberal arts college located in Claremont, California, a college town approximately east of downtown Los Angeles. Pitzer College is one of the Claremont Colleges....
of the Claremont Colleges
Claremont Colleges
The Claremont Colleges are a prestigious American consortium of five undergraduate and two graduate schools of higher education located in Claremont, California, a city east of downtown Los Angeles...
, received Pitzer College's inaugural Distinguished Alumni Award, and was recognized by the Inglewood Court as a champion of civil rights.
Yang has been an adjunct professor at the USC School of Law
University of Southern California Law School
The University of Southern California Law School , located in Los Angeles, California, is a law school within the University of Southern California...
, where she taught trial advocacy. She has also been an instructor at the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and an instructor at California's Judicial College.
California State Judge
Yang was a California state judgeJudge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open...
. She was appointed to the Los Angeles Municipal Court in 1997 and became a member of the Los Angeles Superior Court bench in 2000. As a judge, Yang acted as the Supervising Judge for the Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
Courthouse. She sat on the Criminal Law Advisory Committee and the Subcommittee on the Quality of Judicial Service for the Court's Judicial Council.
United States Attorney
Yang led the largest United States Attorney's Office outside of Washington, D.C. The office serves the approximately 18 million people who live in Los Angeles CountyLos Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
, Orange County
Orange County, California
Orange County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Santa Ana. As of the 2010 census, its population was 3,010,232, up from 2,846,293 at the 2000 census, making it the third most populous county in California, behind Los Angeles County and San Diego County...
, Riverside County
Riverside County, California
Riverside County is a county in the U.S. state of California. One of 58 California counties, it covers in the southern part of the state, and stretches from Orange County to the Colorado River, which forms the state border with Arizona. The county derives its name from the city of Riverside,...
, San Bernardino County
San Bernardino County, California
San Bernardino County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 2,035,210, up from 1,709,434 as of the 2000 census...
, Ventura County
Ventura County, California
Ventura County is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. It is located on California's Pacific coast. It is often referred to as the Gold Coast, and has a reputation of being one of the safest populated places and one of the most affluent places in the country...
, Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County, California
Santa Barbara County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, on the Pacific coast. As of 2010 the county had a population of 423,895. The county seat is Santa Barbara and the largest city is Santa Maria.-History:...
and San Luis Obispo County
San Luis Obispo County, California
San Luis Obispo County is a county located along the Pacific Ocean in the Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census its population was 269,637, up from 246,681 at the 2000 census...
.
Yang served as an Assistant United States Attorney for approximately seven years prior to her judicial career. As a federal prosecutor, she handled violent crimes, white-collar crime
White-collar crime
Within the field of criminology, white-collar crime has been defined by Edwin Sutherland as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" . Sutherland was a proponent of Symbolic Interactionism, and believed that criminal behavior was...
s, international money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
, arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
and computer crimes. As an Assistant United States Attorney, Yang successfully prosecuted a number of high-profile cases, including a Glendale
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...
arson investigator convicted of setting fires throughout the state of California; the first federal carjacking
Carjacking
Carjacking is a form of hijacking, where the crime is of stealing a motor vehicle and so also armed assault when the vehicle is occupied. Historically, such as in the rash of semi-trailer truck hijackings during the 1960s, the general term hijacking was used for that type of vehicle abduction,...
case in California; the kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
of a local real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
agent; and a computer hacker
Hacker (computer security)
In computer security and everyday language, a hacker is someone who breaks into computers and computer networks. Hackers may be motivated by a multitude of reasons, including profit, protest, or because of the challenge...
who received what was then the longest prison sentence for computer intrusion.
Yang resigned her position as the United States Attorney for the Central District of California on November 11, 2006 to join Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Senator Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein is the senior U.S. Senator from California. A member of the Democratic Party, she has served in the Senate since 1992. She also served as 38th Mayor of San Francisco from 1978 to 1988....
(D-CA) has raised questions about Yang's departure in light of the subsequent firing of seven US Attorneys. Yang's office had opened an investigation into the relationship between Rep. Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (politician)
Charles Jeremy Lewis is the U.S. Representative for , and previously the 40th, 35th and 37th, serving since 2003. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is a former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, serving in the role during the 109th Congress.-Early life, education, and...
(R-CA) and a lobbyist five months before she left to join the law firm that represented Rep. Lewis. Yang has denied that any pressure was put on her to resign.