Theodore David Chuang (born October 17, 1969) is a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Maryland The United States District Court for the District of Maryland (in case citations, D. Md.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Maryland. Appeals from the District of Maryland are taken to the United States Court ...

and former deputy general counsel of the

United States Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...

Early life

Chuang was born in

Media, Pennsylvania Media is a borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. It is located about west of Philadelphia, the sixth most populous city in the nation with 1.6 million residents as 2020. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolita ...

, in 1969.Questionnaire: Theodore Chuang

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

. His parents are immigrants from Taiwan. Chuang earned a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

''summa cum laude'' from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1991; as an undergraduate, he wrote for ''

The Harvard Crimson ''The Harvard Crimson'' is the student newspaper of Harvard University and was founded in 1873. Run entirely by Harvard College undergraduates, it served for many years as the only daily newspaper in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Beginning in the f ...

.'' He went on to earn a Juris Doctor ''magna cum laude'' from Harvard Law School in 1994. As a law student, he served as an editor of the '' Harvard Law Review''.

Career

Chuang began his legal career as a law clerk for Judge

Dorothy Wright Nelson Dorothy Wright Nelson (born September 30, 1928) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Education and career Born in San Pedro, California, Wright received an Artium Baccalaureus degr ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

, from 1994 to 1995. From 1995 to 1998, he served as a trial attorney in the

Civil Rights Division The U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division is the institution within the federal government responsible for enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, sex, disability, religion, and national origin. T ...

of the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

. From 1998 to 2004, he served as an assistant United States attorney in the District of Massachusetts. He served as counsel at the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler, Pickering, Hale and Dorr LLP in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

from 2004 to 2007. From 2007 to 2009, he was deputy chief investigative counsel for the

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the main investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one of the most influential and powerful panels in t ...

. In 2009, he was chief investigative counsel for the

House Committee on Energy and Commerce The Committee on Energy and Commerce is one of the oldest standing committees of the United States House of Representatives. Established in 1795, it has operated continuously—with various name changes and jurisdictional changes—for more than ...

. From 2009 until his confirmation as a federal judge in 2014, he served as deputy general counsel of the

Federal judicial service

On September 25, 2013, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

nominated Chuang to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, to the seat being vacated by Judge Roger W. Titus, who assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on January 17, 2014. Chuang's nomination was strongly supported by Maryland's two U.S. senators,

Ben Cardin Benjamin Louis Cardin (born October 5, 1943) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Maryland, a seat he has held since 2007. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representat ...

and

Barbara Mikulski Barbara Ann Mikulski ( ; born July 20, 1936) is an American politician and social worker who served as a United States senator from Maryland from 1987 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she also served in the United States House of Repr ...

. He was rated "well-qualified" by the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of aca ...

's Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. On January 16, 2014, his nomination was reported out of the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nominations ...

by a 10–8 vote. On April 29, 2014, Senate Majority Leader

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...

filed for

cloture Cloture (, also ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. ' ...

on Chuang's nomination. On May 1, 2014, the Senate invoked

on his nomination by a 54–43 vote. Later that day, Chuang was confirmed by a 53–42 vote. He received his judicial commission on May 2, 2014. Chuang sits in

Greenbelt, Maryland Greenbelt is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, and a suburb of Washington, D.C. At the 2020 census, the population was 24,921. Greenbelt is the first and the largest of the three experimental and controversial New D ...

Notable rulings

*On July 13, 2020, Chuang suspended the in-person requirement for women wanting to obtain the abortion pill

mifepristone Mifepristone, also known as RU-486, is a medication typically used in combination with misoprostol to bring about a medical abortion during pregnancy and manage early miscarriage. This combination is 97% effective during the first 63 days of ...

during the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

epidemic due to public health risks. Chuang affirmed the decision in December 2020 when the

Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the 45th president of the United States began with his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican from New York City, took office following his Electoral College victory ...

requested to reinstate that requirement. However, the Supreme Court of the United States subsequently overruled Chuang's decision 6-3, therefore requiring women to obtain the pills in person until at least the end of the Trump presidency.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chuang, Theodore David 1969 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers American jurists of Taiwanese descent American people of Taiwanese descent Assistant United States Attorneys Harvard College alumni The Harvard Crimson people Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland Maryland lawyers People from Media, Pennsylvania United States Department of Homeland Security officials United States district court judges appointed by Barack Obama Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr people

Early life

Career

Federal judicial service

Notable rulings

See also

References

External links