This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in California. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are other distinctions such as the first minority men in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in state history

Law school

You Chung Hong (1923): First Chinese American male law graduate in California (1925)

Lawyers

John Rollin Ridge (Yellow Bird) (c. 1840s): First Native American (Cherokee) lawyer in California R.C.O. Benjamin (1884): First African American male lawyer in California Hong Yen Chang (1888): First Chinese American male lawyer in the U.S., but was denied the right to practice law in CaliforniaChang was awarded the right to practice posthumously in 2015. The admission year shown is for Chang's admission to New York's bar association in 1888. Gustavus Woodson Wickliffe (1894): First African American to passed the bar exam in Southern California and first to be admitted to practice in the State of California courts Washington J. Oglesby (1896, 1902): First African American male to pass the California State Bar exam in 1896, but was refused bar admittance until 1902 Theodore Grady (1897): First deaf male lawyer in California Charles S. Darden (1906): First African American male lawyer to argue a case before the Supreme Court of California (c. 1920s) Ponciano Reyes (1907) and Carlos Basa (1917): First Filipino males admitted to the State Bar of CaliforniaIt is uncertain if Reyes worked as a lawyer in the United States or returned soon after to practice law in the Philippines. Oscar Hudson (1911): First African American male admitted to the State Bar of California Chan Chung Wing (1918): First Chinese American male lawyer to pass the California Bar exam Kenji Ito (1945): First Japanese American male lawyer post-WWII in California Manoucher Farzan (1954): First Persian American male lawyer in California Charles H. Matthews, Sr. (1930):Jackson Advocate. (Jackson, MS) 19 Oct. 1957, p. 1. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/sn79000083/1957-10-19/ed-1/. First African American male lawyer to serve on the California State Law Revision Commission (1956) Cruz Reynoso (1959): First Latino American male admitted to the State Bar of California Paul C. Lo (1994): First Hmong American male admitted to the State Bar of California Sergio C. Garcia (2014): First undocumented immigrant male admitted to the State Bar of California

Judicial officers

State

Justice of the Peace

Charles S. Darden (1906): First African American male to seek a judgeship in California (he was nominated for the police court in 1906, though he would withdraw from the nomination). Oscar Overr: First African American to serve as a Justice of the Peace in California (1914)

Judges

Henry A. Lyons: First Jewish American judge in California (upon his appointment to the California Supreme Court in 1849) Edwin L. Jefferson (1931): First African American male judge in California (1941) Carlos Teran: First Mexican American male to serve as a Judge of the Superior Court in California (1959) Leopoldo Sanchez: First Mexican American male elected as a judge in California (1960) Ralph Moradian (1934): First male of Armenian descent to become a judge in California (1963) David W. Williams (1937): He was considered "the first African-American federal judge west of the Mississippi."Upon his appointment as a Judge of U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1969) John Aiso (1941): First Japanese American male judge in California (1952) Delbert E. Wong (1948): First Chinese American male judge in California (1959) Fred W. Gabourie (1965): First Native American (Seneca people) male judge in California (1976) Stephen Lachs (1963): First openly LGBT male judge in California (1979) Kenneth Chang (1963): First Korean American male judge in California (1980) Mel Red Recana (1974): First Filipino American male judge in California (1981) Thang Nguyen Barrett (1988): First Vietnamese American male judge in California (1997) James A. Kaddo: First Lebanese-born male judge in California (1998) Paul C. Lo (1994): First Hmong American male judge in California (2013) Firdaus Dordi (1996): First Zoroastrian male judge in California (2017) Halim Dhanidina (1997): First Muslim American male judge in California (2012) Aruna P. Rodrigo (2008): First Sri Lankan American male judge in California (2021) Raj Singh Badesha: First turbaned Sikh male judge in California (2024)

Appellate Court

Cruz Reynoso (1959): First Latino American male appointed to the California Court of Appeal (1976) Stephen K. Tamura: First Japanese American male appointed as a Judge of the Court of Appeal in California (1966) Rosendo Peña (1980): First Latino American male appointed as a Judge of the Fifth District Court of Appeals in California (2012) Jim Humes (c. 1983): First openly LGBT male appointed as a Judge of the California Court of Appeals (2012) Richard T. Fields (1983): First African American male appointed as a Judge of the Fourth District Court of Appeals in California (2016) Luis A. Lavin (1985): First openly LGBT male appointed as a Judge of the Second District Court of Appeals in California (2015) M. Bruce Smith (1988): First African American male appointed as a Judge of the Fifth District Court of Appeals in California (2014) Miguel Márquez (1996): First Latino American male appointed as a Judge of the Sixth District Court of Appeals in California (2012) Gabriel P. Sanchez: First Latino American male appointed as a Judge of the First District Court of Appeals in California (2018) Maurice Sanchez: First Latino American male appointed as a Judge of the Third District Court of Appeal in California (2022)

Supreme Court

Henry A. Lyons: First Jewish American male to serve as a Justice (1849) and Chief Justice (1852) of the California Supreme Court Solomon Heydenfeldt: First Jewish American male elected as a Justice of the California Supreme Court (1852) Wiley Manuel (1954): First African American male appointed as a Justice of the California Supreme Court (1977) Cruz Reynoso (1959): First Latino American male appointed as a Justice of the California Supreme Court (1981) Martin Jenkins (1981): First openly LGBT (African-American) male appointed as a Justice of the California Supreme Court (2020)

Federal

District Court

Manuel Real: First Latino American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1966) Earl Ben Gilliam (1957): First African American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (1980) Robert Aguilar (1958):Judge Aguilar would resign in 1996 and the next Hispanic American male judge, Hon.Edward J. Davila (1979), would not be appointed to the Northern District Court of California bench until 2011. First Latino American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (1980) Raul Anthony Ramirez: First Latino American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California (1980) Dickran Tevrizian (1965): First male of Armenian descent to become a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1985) Ronald S. W. Lew (1971): First Chinese American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1987) Thelton Henderson (1962): First African American male appointed as the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (1990) Garland Ellis Burrell Jr. (1976): First African American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California (1991) Robert Mitsuhiro Takasugi: First Japanese American male to serve as Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (1996) Edward M. Chen (1980): First Asian American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (2011) Michael W. Fitzgerald (1985): First openly LGBT male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (2012) Vijay Gandhi (1997): First Indian American male judge appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (2010) Vince Chhabria (1998): First Indian American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (2014) Steve B. Chu: First Asian American male to serve as a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (2023) P. Casey Pitts: First openly gay male to serve as a Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (2023)

Bankruptcy Court

Robert Kwan: First male of Chinese ancestry to serve as a Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California (2007)

Circuit Court

Arthur Alarcón: First Latino American male appointed as a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in California (1979)

Federal Public Defender

Cuauhtemoc Ortega: First Latino and openly gay male to serve as the Federal Public Defender for the Central District of California (c. 2018)

Attorney General

Stanley Mosk: First Jewish American male appointed as the Attorney General of California (1959) Xavier Becerra (1985): First Latino American male appointed as the Attorney General of California (2017) Rob Bonta (1999): First Filipino American male appointed as the Attorney General of California (2021)Bonta is the second Asian American to serve as the Attorney General of California, as Kamala Harris was the first from 2011-2017.

Deputy Attorney General

Delbert E. Wong (1948): First Chinese American male appointed as a Deputy Attorney General in California (1952)

Assistant Attorney General

Franklin Williams: First African American male to serve as the Assistant Attorney General of California (1959)

United States Attorney

Cecil F. Poole (1939): First African American male to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California (1961) André Birotte Jr. (1991): First African American male U.S. Attorney for the Central District (2010). He would later become a district court judge.

District Attorney

Christopher W. Smith (1959): First African American male to serve as a District Attorney in California (1977-1981)

City Attorney

Mikio Uchiyama (1953): First Japanese American male to serve as a City Attorney in California

Political office

Charles Calderon (1976): First Hispanic American male lawyer to become a Senate Majority Leader in California (1996)

Associations

Allen Broussard (1954): First African American male judge to serve as the President of the California Judges Association (1972) Samuel L. Williams: First African American male to serve as the President of the State Bar of California (1981) Rudy Diaz: First Latino American male to serve as President of the California Judges Association (1991) Luis Rodriguez: First Latino American male to serve as the President of the State Bar of California (2013) Michael Colantuono: First openly LGBT male to serve as the President of the State Bar of California (2017) Jason Lee: First Chinese American male to serve as the President of the State Bar of California (2018) Ronald E. Albers: First openly LGBT male to serve as the Vice-President of the State Bar of California

Firsts in local history Alphabetized by county name

Region

Lewis A. Franklin (1853): First Jewish male lawyer in Southern California (c. 1850s) (specifically San Diego, California) Wayne M. Kanemoto (1943): First Japanese American male judge in Northern California (Santa Clara County, California; 1962) Mikio Uchiyama (1953): First Japanese American male judge in Central California (Fresno County, California; 1968)