NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – On Tuesday the U.S. Senate voted 56-42 to confirm Magistrate Judge Edward Chen’s nomination to serve as a U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of California.

The district stretches from the Monterey Coast to the state’s northern border with Oregon and from the Pacific Ocean east nearly to Sacramento.

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) spoke on the Senate floor Tuesday in support of Chen’s nomination.

She has strongly supported Judge Chen’s nomination, which the Senate Judiciary Committee approved on three separate occasions. Senate Republicans had blocked his confirmation since 2009, reportedly because he worked as a staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, handling civil rights cases.

During her remarks Boxer said, “This momentous day that is long overdue,” and credited her colleague, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) for her efforts in support of Chen.

Since 2001, Chen has served as a magistrate judge in the Northern District of California, where he has issued more than 350 published legal opinions, according to Boxer.

Before coming to the bench, Chen was a respected civil rights lawyer and part of the trial team that successfully overturned the wartime conviction of Fred Korematsu.

He made history when he became the first Asian-American Magistrate Judge to serve in the Northern District.

When confirmed, Chen will be only the second Asian-American in the 150-year history of the Northern District to be confirmed as a judge.

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