[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 89 (Monday, June 15, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1421]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 MOURNING PASSING OF JUDGE SANDRA OTAKA

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. MICHAEL M. HONDA

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 15, 2009

  Mr. HONDA. Madam Speaker, l rise today to mourn the passing of Judge 
Sandra Otaka, who died of natural causes at the age of 57 on the 6th of 
June, 2009. As the first Asian-American to be elected judge in Cook 
County, and the second in Illinois, she was a strong advocate for the 
Asian American and Pacific Islander community.
  Born in California as a sansei, or third-generation Japanese 
American, she was a politically active young woman. She campaigned 
against the Vietnam War before enrolling as an undergraduate at UC 
Berkeley at the age of 28. During her time at Berkeley, Otaka worked to 
overturn the conviction of Fred Korematsu, a Japanese-American who was 
arrested in 1942 for not reporting to his designated assembly center 
for internment. Her fight for justice and equal opportunity continued 
during law school, where she protested the university's plan to scale 
back its affirmative action program. After graduating, Otaka moved to 
Chicago to work for a commercial law firm and later as counsel for the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  After a racist comment by a Cook County Circuit Court Judge, Otaka, 
as co-chair of the judiciary committee of the Asian American Bar 
Association, led the effort to have him removed. She succeeded, with 
the judge failing to win the sixty percent of the vote required for 
retention.
  In 2000, Sandra Otaka was appointed to the Cook County Circuit Court, 
and in 2002, she was reelected--the first Asian American judge in Cook 
County to do so.
  Judge Otaka is remembered for her continual fight for the Asian 
American community and as an advocate for diversity on the bench. She 
is survived by her sister, Susan Smith, and her nephew, Jeffery, who 
she raised as her own after her brother's death.
  In closing, Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in mourning 
the passing of Sandra Otaka. She is truly deserving of our respect and 
admiration.

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