> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Yang goes from the court house to the White House - URL: https://www.smdp.com/yang-goes-from-the-court-house-to-the-white-house/ - Published: 2002-05-28T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T00:18:19.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Crime, Santa Monica, #archive-import *U.S. Attorney will focus on terrorism, civil rights* *By CAROLYN SACKARIASON AND DAVE DANFORTH Daily Press Staff Writers* You might say that Debra W. Yang likes life in the fast lane. At 42, the Santa Monica resident is the first Asian- American to become a U.S. Attorney and one of the youngest. As a newly-minted attorney who began practicing here, she had a penchant for trial work. Shortly after, Yang gained experience as a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. Before she reached the age of 40, she’d been made a judge. She most recently sat on the Superior Court bench in Santa Monica, where she’d grab a quick breakfast burrito behind the courthouse with the construction crowd. Then Yang was made an unusual offer: a federal judgeship or the job of U.S. Attorney. “Your pick,” the powers that be told her. Now Yang may have to commute downtown in the fast lane. She began her latest job as U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California a little more than a week ago. Although Yang wasn’t the favorite of an attorneys’ selection committee, her eventual nomination virtually sailed through the White House and U.S. Senate. As part of a new bi-partisan selection process, Yang blew past her competitors and was nominated by President George Bush. Her confirmation won the quick backing of California’s U.S. Senators, both Democrats. She was confirmed by the Senate within two and a half months of being nominated. Yang’s new district is the second largest in the country. Some of her colleagues surmised she won the job due to an extensive resume for a vigorously young age — one which includes work as a trial attorney, former U.S. prosecutor and supervising judge. The Los Angeles native chose the four-year term as U.S. Attorney because she views herself first as a public servant ready to tackle terrorism— the top priority of the position — and other federal issues. “If I can do something to contribute to making Los Angeles safer and have the opportunity to better the community, it’s a dream job,” she said in a recent interview. Yang has clearly made few enemies throughout her career. She attracted rave reviews from a variety of attorneys, judges and academics with whom she’s worked. And a glimpse of her activity as a judge revealed a jurist who understood the value of quickening the pace of a trial, as well as having an unusual rapport with jurors. Loyola Law School assistant dean Laurie Levenson, who worked with Yang briefly as a U.S. prosecutor, said the 260 lawyers in the office will have effective leadership and direction under Yang. She added that Yang’s age will help her lead a new generation of prosecutors. “I think she wants to be where the action is,” Levenson said. “She’ll hit the ground running, taking the general security of the entire community into account with fraud and gangs. We are the fraud capital of the country.” For Yang, an opportunity to be U.S. Attorney exemplified the American dream. Her grandfather emigrated from Canton, China, to give his family more opportunity. “I am truly a patriot,” she said recently during one of her last days as a Santa Monica Superior Court judge. “If not for the opportunities given to me, I’d be picking rice in the fields. But I am the U.S. Attorney.” Then, she added thoughtfully, “Where else can you do that? I am no one special, I’m just a kid from Chinatown.” But her colleagues and those who selected her for the position believe Yang is unique, and stood apart from other aspirants for the federal prosecutor’s position downtown. Her experience as a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office and a supervising judge in the Los Angeles Superior Court system put her in perhaps the lead position for the post, as none of her competitors could claim both recent prosecutorial experience and a judgeship. Yang also has a solid work ethic, say those who know and work with her. She has a hard-to-suppress passion for the law, and particularly for trials. In a phrase, she loves to take the field and play. “A lot of people on that list were former prosecutors and she was always considered the dark horse of that list,” said Mike Leahy, a partner with Haight, Brown & Bonesteel, where Yang first clerked in 1985, after graduating from Boston College Law School. Leahy remains very close to Yang and has watched her career take off. “Frankly, she got the nod because when she went and interviewed at the White House, she wowed them. “Or maybe it’s because her husband is from Texas,” he quipped. “She had everything going for her.” Gerald Parsky, a West Los Angeles attorney who oversees nominations in California for the White House, said Yang easily could have excelled as either a federal judge or U.S. Attorney. “I came away feeling extremely positive with her capabilities for either position,” he said. “The most important thing to me for both of the positions is that they are qualified, confirmed and get the President’s nod.” Most of those who worked with Yang over the years said she was picked by President Bush because she brought along “the entire package.” Roxanne Wilson, who worked with Yang early in her career, said her advantages went beyond the “intangibles” — her being a woman and a Chinese American. Even more experienced competitors could not commonly claim the triple crown of her experience: Trial lawyer, prosecutor and judge. The experience gave her a varied perspective for an incoming U.S. Attorney. “She has a relatively unique background of having done civil litigation and as a criminal prosecutor,” Parsky said. Still, the bottom line is that Yang’s current job is a political position, and it did-n’t hurt that she is a staunch Republican. Even so, Yang was also backed by the state’s Democratic U.S. Senators — Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein. Parsky, who picked Yang after a rigorous interview process by two committees, said a new, bi-partisan selection system was designed to present the right candidate to President Bush, giving him ultimate authority on the selection. Parsky oversaw both committees with which Yang interviewed. One is charged with recommending federal judges; the other helps pick prospective U.S. Attorneys. Parsky appointed three of the six members of the federal judge committee. Those members also served on the committee for the U.S. Attorney. The state’s Senators selected the other half of the six-man committee. Both groups recommended to Parsky that Yang be nominated either for federal judge or U.S. Attorney. In the end, it was her choice. “I think that the process is very good given the fact that we have a Republican president, whom I am very close to, and the support of Democratic Senators,” Parsky said. He noted that Yang met his three criteria for U.S. Attorney: Experience as a federal prosecutor, her leadership capabilities and her experience as a sitting supervisory judge. “She understands the position and the need now for leadership is very important to me and her appreciation for what happened on 9-11 was clear,” Parsky said. Yang, as if on cue from the White House, underlined the notion that her top priority as a lead U.S. prosecutor will be the anti-terror campaign. While she has always had a special interest in pursuing civil rights and white collar crime, the September attack has brought a new focus to the office. “The No. 1 priority we are focusing on is terrorism and it’s also the second and third priority,” she said. “We (in Los Angeles) weren’t at Ground Zero, we weren’t at the Pentagon and we weren’t at Pennsylvania (where the fourth hijacked plane crashed), but the shock is still so tremendous. The attack and our security have rocked this country.” Yang also is serving on a civil rights committee for the Attorney General’s office. Retired Court of Appeal Elwood Lui, who chaired both nominating committees, said Yang knows the office and her experience there is recent. But Lui also cited a personal element of why he selected Yang. “You can see a dynamic, personable, intelligible person and that alone was enough,” he said. “But she’s also popular and well regarded as a practical attorney.” Yang replaced U.S. Attorney Alex Mayorkas, who stepped down last April after almost all of the 92 U.S. attorneys in the country were replaced by the new Republican administration. John Gordon was serving as interim U.S. Attorney. Parsky said he felt that with both Boxer and Feinstein backing Yang, she would be quickly confirmed and could jump-start an idling U.S. Attorney’s Office. The job, uniquely political while also professional, makes for a quirky tap-dance whenever control of the White House, and thus the Justice Department, changes. Since Mayorkas left, many federal prosecutors in California put their criminal and civil caseloads on hold while awaiting new leadership. More than a year after Bush was sworn into office and attorney general John Ashford was confirmed by the Senate, about a quarter of the vacant U.S. attorney jobs remain unfilled. Meanwhile, California is on the front line of the war on terror, drugs and illegal immigration. And in the state’s Central District of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a burrito lover and Santa Monica judge is at the helm. “It’s vast and varied,” Yang said. “It’s somewhat invigorating.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 28, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052802.pdf?ref=smdp.com)