The first Indian American, South Asian and Punjabi justice in Oregon history will be joining the state’s Supreme Court. Aruna Masih was appointed today by Governor Tina Kotek.
She is replacing Adrienne Nelson, whose appointment to the federal judiciary was confirmed earlier this year.
Since Oregon’s Supreme Court justices are elected—outside of circumstances like this, where a vacancy in the court is filled by governor’s appointment—she’ll have to run for office to keep her seat after the next election.
Born in New York to a Punjabi father and a British mother, her family moved to India as medical missionaries when she was sixth months old.
Living in both India and the United States in her childhood, she attended Wellesley College and later earned her law degree at Tulane and Creighton universities. She’s married to a public defender in Multnomah County, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Masih spent most of her career as a partner at Bennet Hartman LLP where she largely represented employees, labor unions, and joint labor-management trust funds, and doesn’t have prior experience as a judge.
Masih is also Vice President of the South Asian Bar Association of Oregon and holds leadership positions with the Multnomah Bar Association and the Oregon Women Lawyers Foundation, according to the State of Oregon Newsroom.
Starting in 2003, she joined Bennet Hartman’s task force of attorneys that represent public workers in major Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) cases.
PERS is a disability and retirement fund for public workers in Oregon from state and local governments and school districts. Unions, labor groups and other organizations joined together in the PERS Coalition to defend the system by lobbying legislators and legal action. Member unions like the Oregon AFSCME Council 75 say the 77-year-old system is subject to continuous “attacks by corporate interests.”
She’s received the Multnomah Bar Association’s Diversity Award and recognition from the Oregon Minority Lawyers Association for her work, and has spent time working to diversify the state’s legal community.
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc. Please support our fundraisers.
Join us for a stimulating conference about issues that divide the Asian American communities. Our fundraiser Common Ground and the dinner after will be held October 26 at UC Berkeley.
Then purchase your tickets to Up Close with Connie Chung, America’s first Asian American to anchor a nightly network newscast. The in-depth conversation with Connie will be held November 14 at 7:30 at Columbia University’s Milbank Chapel in the Teacher’s College. All proceeds benefit AsAmNews.
