WASHINGTON – Today, the Senate confirmed Dale Ho to serve on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. As Director of the Voting Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union for nearly a decade, Mr. Ho led extensive voting rights litigation, research, and advocacy across the country to protect the fundamental right to vote and ensure equal justice under the law. The following is a statement from Damon Hewitt, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:
“Dale Ho’s remarkable career has been defined by his tireless commitment to protecting voting rights and advancing racial equity. As lead counsel in Fish v. Kobach, he successfully halted a Kansas law before an election that would have required all voters to present documentary proof of citizenship simply to register to vote. He also argued and won a case before the U.S. Supreme Court—Department of Commerce v. New York—which prohibited the Department of Commerce from including a citizenship question on the 2020 Census questionnaire. These cases, among others, demonstrate Mr. Ho’s dedication to championing the principles of equality and justice. He has dedicated his career to protecting civil rights and voting rights, efforts that require legal acumen and strategic thinking, which will undoubtedly benefit him as a jurist.
Our staff at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law has had the honor of litigating cases alongside Mr. Ho, during which he led with integrity, diplomacy, and empathy to develop genuine transformational change to benefit colleagues and the communities he served. I had the personal pleasure of working with him as a colleague in the early part of his career, where his dogged persistence, thoroughness on task, and high standard of excellence all shined through from the start. He is a litigator’s litigator, as fair-minded as they come, and with a strong moral compass.
This judicial confirmation is a magnificent accomplishment for Mr. Ho and a significant stride in bringing our democracy towards an inclusive judiciary that reflects the diversity of experiences, interests, and aspirations of the American public. Currently, fewer than five percent of federal judges are former civil rights advocates, and only a few Asian-Americans are active judges in the Southern District of New York. As an experienced civil rights attorney, he will contribute to much-needed professional diversity on the federal bench and ensure that all individuals’ fundamental rights are protected—especially the rights of people of color, women, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people.
We congratulate Mr. Ho and thank the Senate for its vote in favor of his confirmation.”
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About the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to mobilize the nation’s leading lawyers as agents for change in the Civil Rights Movement. Today, the Lawyers’ Committee uses legal advocacy to achieve racial justice, fighting inside and outside the courts to ensure that Black people and other people of color have the voice, opportunity, and power to make the promises of our democracy real. For more information, please visit https://link.edgepilot.com/s/486dc090/49XPRUPzQkewWZmgTD5d2A?u=https://lawyerscommittee.org/.
