Joun Approved As Newest Federal Judge in Mass.

First Asian-American Man on Federal Bench in Massachusetts

Boston Municipal Court Judge Myong Joun won approval from the U.S. Senate on Wednesday to take the federal bench as a U.S. District Court judge for the District of Massachusetts.

Joun was confirmed on a 52-46 vote, with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Lindsey Graham, and Susan Collins joining the Democratic caucus in support, according to social media reports from a CSPAN producer and accounts that track U.S. Senate action.

President Joseph Biden initially selected Joun last summer, but the nomination died without a vote at year’s end. Biden renominated the Bay Stater in January.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights celebrated Joun’s confirmation Wednesday and praised his “impressive legal and judicial career.”

“Before serving as associate justice of the Boston Municipal Court, he spent many years defending the rights of working people and people accused of wrongdoing,” Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the conference’s fair courts program, said. “Notably, Judge Joun will be the first Asian American man to serve on any court located in the First Circuit, and his confirmation ushers in important representation to the judiciary.”

Joun was tapped for the Boston Municipal Court by Gov. Deval Patrick and received unanimous confirmation from the Governor’s Council in November 2014. Councilor Marilyn Petitto Devaney at the time described Joun as living the “American dream.”

He previously practiced law in Arlington and started his career as a civil litigator at the Law Offices of Howard Friedman in Boston in 1999. He is a Suffolk Law graduate.