Wesley Hsu

Central District of California
	Ninth Circuit
Judgeships
	Posts: 28
	Judges: 25
	Vacancies: 3
Judges
	Chief: Dolly Gee
	Active judges: Fernando Aenlle-Rocha, Mónica Ramírez Almadani, Percy Anderson, Jesus Bernal, André Birotte Jr., Stanley Blumenfeld, David Carter, Michelle Williams Court, Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong, Michael Fitzgerald, Sherilyn P. Garnett, Dolly Gee, John William Holcomb, Wesley L. Hsu, Kenly Kiya Kato, Robert Klausner, Fernando Olguin, Mark C. Scarsi, Fred W. Slaughter, Josephine Staton, Sunshine S. Sykes, Hernán D. Vera, John Walter, Stephen Wilson, Otis Wright; Senior judges:; Valerie Baker Fairbank, Dale Fischer, Terry Hatter, Aaron Kampfe, William Duffy Keller, John A. Kronstadt, Ronald Lew, Consuelo Marshall, Virginia Phillips, Dean Pregerson, James Selna, Christina Snyder, George Wu

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Wesley Hsu
	Court: United States District Court for the Central District of California
Progress
	Confirmed 100 days after nomination.
	Nominated: January 23, 2023
	ABA Rating: Well qualified
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: February 15, 2023
	Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: April 20, 2023
	Confirmed: May 3, 2023
	Vote: 53 - 43

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Wesley L. Hsu is a judge on the United States District Court for the Central District of California. He was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on January 23, 2023, and confirmed by the United States Senate on May 3, 2023, by a vote of 53 - 43.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

The United States District Court for the Central District of California is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Prior to joining the court, Hsu was a judge on the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California.

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States United States District Court for the Central District of California (2023-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On January 23, 2023, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Hsu to the United States District Court for the Central District of California. ^[2] He was confirmed by a 53 - 43 vote of the U.S. Senate on May 3, 2023.^[3] Hsu received commission on May 12, 2023.^[4] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Hsu by a vote of 53 - 43 on May 3, 2023.^[3] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Hsu confirmation vote (May 3, 2023)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	46	0	2
Republican	4	43	2
Independent	3	0	0
Total	53	43	4

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Hsu's nomination on February 15, 2023. He was reported to the full Senate on April 20, 2023, after a 13-8 committee vote.^[5] Click here for a list of other nominees awaiting a full Senate vote.

Nomination

On January 23, 2023, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Hsu to the United States District Court for the Central District of California. The president announced his intent to nominate Hsu to the seat on December 21, 2022.^[1]^[2] Click here for a list of other nominees who have been nominated by President Joe Biden.

The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Hsu well qualified.^[6] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Superior Court of Los Angeles County (2017-2023)

Wesley Hsu was appointed to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County by Governor Jerry Brown in 2017.^[7]

Elections

2018

See also: Municipal elections in Los Angeles County, California (2018)

Nonpartisan primary election

The primary election was canceled. Wesley L. Hsu (Nonpartisan) won the election without appearing on the ballot.

Selection method

See also: Nonpartisan election

The 1,535 judges of the California Superior Courts compete in nonpartisan races in even-numbered years. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the June primary election, he or she is declared the winner; if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the top two candidates is held during the November general election.^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]

If an incumbent judge is running unopposed in an election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot. The judge is automatically re-elected following the general election.^[8]

The chief judge of any given superior court is selected by peer vote of the court's members. He or she serves in that capacity for one or two years, depending on the county.^[8]

Qualifications
Candidates are required to have 10 years of experience as a law practitioner or as a judge of a court of record.^[8]

Biography

Early life and education

Hsu earned his B.A. and J.D. from Yale University. ^[12]

Professional career

2023-present: Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California
2017-2023: Judge, Superior Court of Los Angeles County
2000-2017: Deputy U.S. attorney and assistant U.S. attorney with the U.S. Attorney's Office^[12]

About the court

The United States District Court for the Central District of California is one of 94 United States district courts. The court serves about seventeen million people in southern and central California, making it the largest federal judicial district by population. The district operates out of courthouses in Santa Ana, Riverside and two locations in Los Angeles. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse. Initial appeals are heard in Pasadena at the Richard Chambers Courthouse.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Central District of California (click for larger map)

The Central District of California has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

There are three court divisions, each covering the following counties:

The Eastern Division, covering Riverside and San Bernardino counties.^[13]

The Southern Division, covering Orange County.^[13]

The Western Division, covering Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura counties.^[13]

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.

External links

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by Virginia Phillips	United States District Court for the Central District of California 2023-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	Superior Court of Los Angeles County 2017-2023	Succeeded by -