THE EARLY 1990s: THE FIRST VIETNAMESE AMERICAN JUDGE IN HOUSTON, TEXAS, 1991-92

NOTE FROM WENDY N. DUONG:  In the early 1990s, I accepted the judgeship appointment in Houston as a public service, and out of a sense of community obligation.  I took my judgeship very seriously and devoted all of myself to it, the same way I had dedicated myself to my federal legal employment, first with the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas, Galveston Division, and then, as a trial attorney for the Securities & Exchange Commission in Washington D.C.  That was fond memory of the Capital City.
    For the judgeship, I held court at night and on Saturdays (a reality for the busy "real people" municipal docket in an urban environment like Houston).  I did not seek reappointment, but, instead, left Texas to pursue an international legal career and to have the freedom to  devote myself more fully to the arts.

The unofficial comment I heard through the great vines of Houston was that many thought the mayor had recommended a...skinny fashion model to the municipal bench (see my picture above to see how underweight I was those years!)  So, during my judgeship, I ate a lot of rice to gain weight. I was successful, as seen in subsequent press pictures!  For example, I was shown below in the company of fellow judge Timothy Seo, Economist Wendy Gramm, wife of Senator Phil Gramm and Chair of the CFTC in Washington, D.C., together with a singer-performer at a gala held in Houston.   

What was important to me then was the recognition from the American Bar Association, which held for the first time a conference featuring minority women in the judiciary.  For the first time, a Vietnamese female name appeared on the list, and that was 1993.  It was not until 18 years later that President Obama appointed the first Vietnamese American female lawyer to the U.S. District Court.  I gave up that dream for my career in 1987, putting personal freedom over the pursuit of a lifetime judicial career.  Looking back, I cannot say that my decision was correct.  But the more exciting part of my life, at any age, is to move forward and not to regret.  

TRIBUTE TO VIETNAMESE:  I was very touched to find out that even after my resignation from Houston's municipal bench, unknown Vietnamese have painstakingly compiled my bio from various sources for posting on the internet. They did this without my knowledge, and with a sense of responsibility for the facts as well as the opinions of those who were quoted. My fellow Vietnamese show great respect for my judgeship during our earlier days of resettlement here.  The  bio (below) was sent to me by a friend of my parents, who found it on the internet after reading one of my short stories written in Vietnamese. This bio was the most accurate portrayal of me in the public domain.  It spoke of the woman, and not just the judicial appointee for the City of Houston.  I think of my modest judgeship of the early 1990s in diverse Houston as belonging to the Vietnamese presence in the U.S., our hard work and our collective pride.