Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office announced Tuesday the appointments of five new judges to posts in San Diego County, as well as the nomination of the first Asian American Justice to serve on California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal.
Truc T. Do, 49, of San Diego, currently a San Diego Superior Court judge, will be the first Asian American Justice in the court’s history, if confirmed.
“This historic nomination brings the state closer to our goal of representing the diversity of California’s vibrant communities at every level of state government. I am confident that Judge Do will be an exemplary addition to the Fourth District Court of Appeal,” Newsom said.
Do, 49, was also the first Vietnamese American judge ever appointed to San Diego Superior Court when she was appointed in 2018.
She would fill a vacancy created by the retirement of Justice Gilbert Nares on the Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One, located in San Diego.
“I am deeply honored by Gov. Newsom’s nomination and look forward to the opportunity to serve the people of California as an Appellate Justice,” Do said.
Five others have been appointed to San Diego Superior Court, Newsom’s office announced.
Those are:
- Anthony J. Campagna, 49, of San Diego, who has served as Division Chief of the South Bay branch of the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office since 2018. He fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Gale E. Kaneshiro.
- Jose Scher Castillo, 42, of San Diego, who has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of California since 2010. He fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge David B. Oberholtzer.
- Jinsook Ohta, 44, of San Diego, who has served as Supervising Deputy Attorney General in the California Attorney General’s Office since 2019, and as a Deputy Attorney General from 2011 to 2019. She fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Lantz Lewis.
- Victor N. Pippins, Jr., 42, of San Diego, who has served as a Sole Practitioner since 2018, an associate at Higgs Fletcher and Mack LLP from 2011 to 2018, and a trial attorney at Federal Defenders of San Diego Inc. from 2007 to 2011. He fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Adrienne A. Orfield.
- And Victor M. Torres, 62, of San Diego, who has served as a Commissioner at the San Diego Superior Court since 2018, and was a sole practitioner from 1991 to 2018. He fills a vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Stephanie Sontag.
According to the San Diego Law Library, Do emigrated from Vietnam to the United States as a refugee.
She graduating at the top of her class at UCLA and attended Stanford Law School. Do came to the bench in 2018 after four years with the Jones Day law firm. She was a partner at Munger, Tolles and Olson from 2009 to 2014. Before that, she served as a deputy district attorney at the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office from 1999 to 2009.
The Fourth District court has three divisions — in San Diego, Santa Ana and Riverside.
— City News Service
