From 2004 to 2014, she was a sole practitioner.[3] She primarily represented federal criminaldefendants, and also represented clients in civil rights and labor disputes.[4] Prior to her appointment as a U.S. magistrate judge, she served on the federal district court's Merit Selection Panel and Standing Committee on Attorney Discipline.[4]
Federal judicial service
On July 1, 2014, Kato was sworn in as a United States magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.[4]
On December 15, 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Kato to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California.[3] President Biden nominated Kato to the seat vacated by Judge Beverly Reid O'Connell, who died on October 8, 2017.[5]
On February 1, 2022, a hearing was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[6] During her confirmation hearing, Senators Chuck Grassley and Ted Cruz questioned her about a 1995 book review, published in Harvard Civil Rights–Civil Liberties Law Review, that Kato had co-written in law school; in a heated dialogue, the two Republicans questioned Kato about a footnote in the book review that said that Asian-American neoconservatives "internalize the dialogue of oppressors, believing in the values of the status quo and condemning the activism of their group."[2][7][8] Cruz also questioned her about her views on affirmative action.[2][7] Some Republicans also objected to Kato's past experience as a public defender.[9] Her nomination is supported by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association.[7] On March 10, 2022, the committee failed to report her nomination by an 11–11 vote.[10]
On January 3, 2023, her nomination was returned to the president under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the Senate; she was renominated the same day.[11] On February 9, 2023, her nomination was reported out of committee by a party-line 11–10 vote.[12] On November 7, 2023, the Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 50–47 vote.[13] Later that day, her nomination was confirmed by a 51–46 vote.[14] She received her judicial commission on November 17, 2023.[15]
^Perry S. Chen & Kenly Kiya Kato, Recent Publication: The State of Asian America: Activism and Resistance in the 1990s, 30 Harv. C.R.-C.L. L. Rev. 279 (1995).