Denny Chin

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Judge Denny Chin, October 2005

Denny Chin is a judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Chin was nominated by President Clinton on March 24, 1994, and confirmed in August of that same year. He is the first Asian American appointed as a U.S. District Judge outside of the Ninth Circuit.

Judge Chin was born in 1954 in Hong Kong and came to the U.S. in 1956. He received his Bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 1975. In 1978, Chin graduated from Fordham University School of Law, where he also currently teaches first year Legal Writing. Following a 1978-1980 clerkship with the Hon. Henry Werker in the Southern District, Chin worked for the law firm of Davis Polk & Wardwell from 1980-1982. He was an Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District from 1982-1986. After leaving the U.S. Attorney's office, Chin reentered private practice, which he left in 1994 upon appointment to the bench.

In 2004, the Asian American Law Students Association (APALSA) at Fordham named the Hon. Denny Chin Alumni Award for Excellence in the Legal Profession after Judge Chin. Recipients of the award include Serene Nakano '82, Chad Sjoquist '98, Judge Danny K. Chun '87, and Betsy Tsai '01 (one of Judge Chin's former clerks).

[edit] Notable cases

In Fox v. Franken Chin denied Fox News (who alleged a trademark violation) an injunction against Al Franken's Book Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right.^[1]

Judge Chin also presided over the criminal prosecution of Larry Stewart, the handwriting expert who was accused of committing perjury during the trial of Martha Stewart (no relation).^[2] Larry Stewart was acquitted by a jury.^[3]

Chin presided over the criminal trial of Pak Dong-seon in connection with Pak's alleged involvement in the scandal surrounding the United Nations Oil-for-Food Programme. Pak was convicted by a jury and sentenced by Judge Chin to 5 years in prison.^[4]

Most recently, Judge Chin presided over the criminal trial of Oscar Wyatt, the Texas oil billionaire, a long-time Democrat, and rival of George H.W. Bush accused of making kick-backs to the Hussein regime during the UN Oil-For-Food Programe. In the middle of his trial, Wyatt changed his plea to guilty as part of a plea bargain with the government.^[5]