List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Arizona

This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Arizona. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are other distinctions such as the first minority men in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in Arizona's history

Lawyers

First Hispanic American male: Joseph C. Padilla (1936)^[1]
First Asian American male: Wing F. Ong (1943):^[2]^[3]
First African American male: Hayzel Burton Daniels (1948)^[4]^[5]
First Native American (Pascua Yaqui Tribe) male: Lawrence Huerta (1953)^[4]
First Native American (Gila River Indian Community) male: Rodney B. Lewis (1972)^[6]^[7]^[8]^[9]
First undocumented male: Daniel Rodriguez in 2014^[10]

State judges

First Jewish American male: Charles C. Bernstein (1929) in 1946^[3]
First Mexican American male (Superior Court of Arizona): Raúl Héctor Castro (1949) in 1959^[11]^[12]^[13]
First Jewish American male (Supreme Court of Arizona; Chief Justice): Charles C. Bernstein (1929) in 1962^[3]^[14]
First Asian American male (superior court):^[15]^[16] Thomas Tang in 1962
First African American male: Hayzel Burton Daniels (1948) in 1965^[4]^[5]
First Hispanic American male (Arizona Appeals Court): Joe W. Contreras in 1979^[17]
First African American male (Arizona Appeals Court): Cecil B. Patterson Jr. (1971) in 1985^[4]^[18]^[17]
First Latino American male (Supreme Court of Arizona): John Lopez IV (1998):^[19] First Latino American male to serve on (2016)

Federal judges

First Asian American male (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in Arizona): Thomas Tang (1950) in 1977^[4]^[20]
First Hispanic American male (U.S. District Court): Valdemar Aguirre Cordova (1950) in 1979^[4]
First African American male (Chief Judge; U.S. District Court): Raner Collins (1975) in 2013^[21]
First Asian American male (Article III judge; U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona): Sharad H. Desai in 2024^[22]

Attorney General of Arizona

First African American male (work for Attorney General): Cecil B. Patterson Jr. (1971)^[4]^[18]
First Jewish American male: Tom Horne (1970) from 2011-2015^[23]

Assistant Attorneys General

First Hispanic American male: Albert García (1937)^[24]^[3]
First African American male: Hayzel Burton Daniels (1948)^[4]^[5]

County Attorney

First Mexican American male: Raúl Héctor Castro (1949) from 1954-1959^[11]^[12]^[13]

Political office

First Mexican American male (Governor of Arizona): Raúl Héctor Castro (1949) from 1975-1977^[11]^[12]

State Bar of Arizona

First Asian American male (President): Thomas Tang in 1977^[16]
First Latino American male (President): Ernest Calderón in 2002^[25]
First African American male (President): Benjamin Taylor in 2023^[26]

Firsts in local history

Greg Garcia:^[3] Reputed to be the first Hispanic American male lawyer in Maricopa County, Arizona
Cecil B. Patterson Jr. (1971):^[4]^[18] First African American male to serve on the Maricopa County Superior Court
Kevin Kane:^[27] First openly LGBT male to serve on the Phoenix Municipal Court (2006)
Raúl Héctor Castro (1949):^[11]^[12]^[13] First Mexican American male to serve on the Superior Court of Pima County, Arizona (1959)
Harry Gin:^[28] First Chinese American male to serve on the Superior Court of Pima County, Arizona (1975)
James Don:^[29] First Chinese American male to serve as the Pinal County Attorney and a Judge of the Pinal County Superior Court, Arizona

References

^ Ryan, Michael D. (November 2000). "Arizona Trailblazers: Honoring 100 Women & Minority Lawyers". AZ Attorney. 37: 20.
^ Nakanishi, Don T.; Wu, Ellen D. (2002). Distinguished Asian American Political and Governmental Leaders. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-1-57356-325-3.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Watts, Stan (2007). A Legal History of Maricopa County. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738548159.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Arizona, State Bar of. "Diversity". State Bar of Arizona. Retrieved 2016-10-08.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Daniels, Hayzel B. (1913-1992) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". www.blackpast.org. 19 January 2007. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
^ Congress (2015-01-21). Congressional Record: Bound Volumes. Government Printing Office.
^ "Slush fund defendants claim sovereign immunity". navajotimes.com. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
^ Ross, Andrew (2011-11-03). Bird on Fire: Lessons from the World's Least Sustainable City. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199828272.
^ "Arizona Attorney - April 2019 - page51". www.azattorneymag-digital.com. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
^ Alam, Adnan (2017-09-08). "Local attorney helps DREAMers plan for uncertain future". Cronkite News - Arizona PBS. Retrieved 2022-10-26.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Raul Castro, Arizona's only Latino governor, dies at 98". azcentral. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Davenport, Paul (2015-04-14). "Raul Hector Castro, ambassador and Arizona governor, dies at 98". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-01-29.
^ ^a ^b ^c "AZ Legal Timeline". www.legallegacy.org. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
^ "Boy Scout Awards, 1951". Arizona Memory Project.
^ Rogers, John W. (January 1, 2019). "Judge Thomas Tang". American Bar Association.
^ ^a ^b "Legends of the Judiciary: Judge Thomas Tang". supremestateaz.granicus.com. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
^ ^a ^b Irvine, Patrick (June 2005). "ARTICLE: 1965-2005: THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS". AZ Attorney. 41: 12.
^ ^a ^b ^c "ASU Law establishes endowment for trailblazing black judge". ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact. 2017-02-24. Retrieved 2017-10-31.
^ "Robb: Ducey never mentioned first Latino Arizona Supreme Court justice's race". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
^ "Tang, Thomas | Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-15.
^ "First African-American Leads Arizona Federal Court". www.ca9.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
^ "NAPABA Applauds the Confirmation of Sharad Desai to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona". NAPABA. November 21, 2024.
^ "Tom Horne visits Yeshiva High School". www.jewishaz.com. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
^ "María García :: Arizona Latina Trailblazers". azmemory.azlibrary.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
^ Eigo, Tim (2002). "Leader for All: New Bar President Jessica Sanchez" (PDF). Arizona Attorney.
^ "First Black president of the State Bar of Arizona". Arizona PBS. Retrieved 2023-11-30.
^ Gardiner, Dustin. "Diversity debate slows selection of Phoenix's chief judge". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
^ "Harry Gin 2/19/1927 11/2/2011". Arizona Daily Star. 2011-11-09. Retrieved 2024-06-05.
^ Ryan, Michael D. (November 2000). "FEATURE: ARIZONA TRAILBLAZERS: HONORING 100 WOMEN AND MINORITY LAWYERS". AZ Attorney. 37: 20.

[1] Ryan, Michael D. (November 2000). "Arizona Trailblazers: Honoring 100 Women & Minority Lawyers". AZ Attorney. 37: 20.

[2] Nakanishi, Don T.; Wu, Ellen D. (2002). Distinguished Asian American Political and Governmental Leaders. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-1-57356-325-3.

[:132-3] Watts, Stan (2007). A Legal History of Maricopa County. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 9780738548159.

[:0-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Arizona, State Bar of. "Diversity". State Bar of Arizona. Retrieved 2016-10-08.

[:1-5] "Daniels, Hayzel B. (1913-1992) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". www.blackpast.org. 19 January 2007. Retrieved 2018-01-10.

[:55-6] Congress (2015-01-21). Congressional Record: Bound Volumes. Government Printing Office.

[:56-7] "Slush fund defendants claim sovereign immunity". navajotimes.com. Retrieved 2018-01-17.

[:57-8] Ross, Andrew (2011-11-03). Bird on Fire: Lessons from the World's Least Sustainable City. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199828272.

[9] "Arizona Attorney - April 2019 - page51". www.azattorneymag-digital.com. Retrieved 2022-03-05.

[10] Alam, Adnan (2017-09-08). "Local attorney helps DREAMers plan for uncertain future". Cronkite News - Arizona PBS. Retrieved 2022-10-26.

[:3-11] "Raul Castro, Arizona's only Latino governor, dies at 98". azcentral. Retrieved 2018-01-29.

[:4-12] Davenport, Paul (2015-04-14). "Raul Hector Castro, ambassador and Arizona governor, dies at 98". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-01-29.

[:5-13] "AZ Legal Timeline". www.legallegacy.org. Retrieved 2019-01-25.

[14] "Boy Scout Awards, 1951". Arizona Memory Project.

[15] Rogers, John W. (January 1, 2019). "Judge Thomas Tang". American Bar Association.

[:7-16] "Legends of the Judiciary: Judge Thomas Tang". supremestateaz.granicus.com. Retrieved 2024-06-05.

[:6-17] Irvine, Patrick (June 2005). "ARTICLE: 1965-2005: THE ARIZONA COURT OF APPEALS". AZ Attorney. 41: 12.

[:2-18] "ASU Law establishes endowment for trailblazing black judge". ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact. 2017-02-24. Retrieved 2017-10-31.

[19] "Robb: Ducey never mentioned first Latino Arizona Supreme Court justice's race". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-12-14.

[20] "Tang, Thomas | Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-15.

[21] "First African-American Leads Arizona Federal Court". www.ca9.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-19.

[22] "NAPABA Applauds the Confirmation of Sharad Desai to the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona". NAPABA. November 21, 2024.

[23] "Tom Horne visits Yeshiva High School". www.jewishaz.com. 27 November 2013. Retrieved 2018-12-14.

[24] "María García :: Arizona Latina Trailblazers". azmemory.azlibrary.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-13.

[25] Eigo, Tim (2002). "Leader for All: New Bar President Jessica Sanchez" (PDF). Arizona Attorney.

[26] "First Black president of the State Bar of Arizona". Arizona PBS. Retrieved 2023-11-30.

[27] Gardiner, Dustin. "Diversity debate slows selection of Phoenix's chief judge". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved 2022-02-17.

[28] "Harry Gin 2/19/1927 11/2/2011". Arizona Daily Star. 2011-11-09. Retrieved 2024-06-05.

[29] Ryan, Michael D. (November 2000). "FEATURE: ARIZONA TRAILBLAZERS: HONORING 100 WOMEN AND MINORITY LAWYERS". AZ Attorney. 37: 20.

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