Goodwin Liu

He is of Taiwanese descent, and is the second son of Wen-Pen Liu (劉文彬) and Yang-Ching Cai (蔡洋清), both of whom came to the United States from Taiwan in the late 1960s, when foreign doctors were being recruited to work in underserved areas.

Goodwin Hon Liu (born October 19, 1970; Chinese: 劉弘威) is an American lawyer who serves as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of California.

Before his appointment by California Governor Jerry Brown, Liu was Associate Dean and Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall).

Liu has been recognized for his writing on constitutional law, education policy, civil rights, and the Supreme Court.

Born in Georgia, Liu attended Stanford University, the University of Oxford, and Yale Law School.

Liu and his family moved to Clewiston, Florida, shortly after his birth and then in 1977, they relocated to Sacramento, California, where Liu graduated from Rio Americano High School.

He earned a Bachelor of Science in biology at Stanford University.

While there he was active in student politics as a member of the People's Platform, serving on the Council of Presidents of the ASSU.

He attended Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, on a Rhodes Scholarship and earned a Master of Philosophy in philosophy and physiology.

Liu received his Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.

Liu initially worked as an appellate litigator at O'Melveny & Myers in Washington.

He later clerked for Judge David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and then for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court, where among other things, he contributed a draft to her dissent in Bush v. Gore.

He also served as special assistant to the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Education and as senior program officer for higher education at the Corporation for National Service (AmeriCorps).

He is also a former chair of the board of directors of the American Constitution Society.

He was a professor at University of California, Berkeley.

He was elected to the American Law Institute in May 2008 and was elected to the ALI Council in May 2013.

He currently serves as the chair of the ALI's committee on the Young Scholars Medal.

He serves on the boards of the National Women's Law Center and the Alliance for Excellent Education.

He took a job at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where he became Associate Dean and Professor of Law.

In 2009 Liu was awarded the UC Berkeley Distinguished Teaching Award.

On February 24, 2010, President Barack Obama nominated Liu to fill a vacancy on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

For more than a year, Liu's nomination was delayed amid significant opposition from Republicans in the U.S. Senate.

On February 24, 2010, President Obama nominated Liu to a new judgeship seat on the Ninth Circuit created by the Court Security Improvement Act of 2007; which became effective on January 21, 2009.

On April 6, 2010, Liu submitted the 117 requested items to the committee as a supplemental to the original questionnaire.

The committee hearing had been postponed twice particularly due to Republican opposition to Liu's judicial qualifications and record.

Liu defended his writings as a scholar by saying that "there's a clear difference between what things people write as scholars and how one would approach the role of a judge".

On April 6, 2010, a letter was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy by the seven committee Republicans to request a third postponement, which was subsequently rejected.

Liu was also criticized for lack of trial-level experience.

Prior to his nomination, Liu had not served as a judge and had argued only one case at the appellate court level as a lawyer.

Liu's criticism of Chief Justice John Roberts and especially his statement during Samuel Alito's Supreme Court nomination was targeted by Senate Republicans as proof of his lack of judicial temperament and partisanship.

Liu later apologized and said that his words were "unduly harsh".

On May 19, 2011, the Senate failed to invoke cloture on Liu's nomination with the necessary supermajority in a 52–43 vote, and on May 25, 2011, Liu informed President Obama that he was withdrawing his name from consideration to the seat on the Ninth Circuit, telling the president that "With no possibility of an up-or-down vote on the horizon, my family and I have decided that it is time for us to regain the ability to make plans for the future."

On July 26, 2011, Governor Jerry Brown nominated Liu to a seat on the Supreme Court of California, succeeding Associate Justice Carlos R. Moreno.

Three days later, President Obama formally notified the Senate that he was withdrawing Liu's nomination for the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Liu was sworn into the California Supreme Court on September 1, 2011.

Liu was born in Augusta, Georgia.

His nomination was filibustered by Republicans in the Senate and expired with the sine die adjournment of the 111th Congress.

He was renominated to the same position on the first full day of the 112th Congress.

On April 7, 2011, the Senate Judiciary Committee reported his nomination to the floor of the Senate by a party-line 10–8 vote.

However, Liu's nomination was harshly criticized by Senate Republicans for allegedly failing to disclose 117 of his more controversial writings and speeches.