Dear Senator:
I write on behalf of the AFL-CIO to urge swift confirmation of Mr. Dale Ho to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Mr. Ho is an exceptional nominee who has devoted his career to protecting our most fundamental constitutional rights.
Mr. Ho has represented the interests of voters, regardless of political party, as Director of the Voting Rights Project for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) since 2013. Mr. Ho and his team filed an amicus brief in support of Maryland Republican voters who were suing to stop a Democratic gerrymander of the state’s congressional districts. He also successfully challenged racially discriminatory voting restrictions, including a North Carolina voting restriction that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit found unconstitutional.
Mr. Ho also effectively argued to protect the integrity of the decennial census, a fundamental cornerstone of our democracy before the Supreme Court. Mr. Ho also has been lead counsel in numerous federal and state trials, most notably in the case Fish v. Kobach, where Mr. Ho and the ACLU succeeded in re-enfranchising over 30,000 Kansas voters who had been improperly removed from state voter rolls
Mr. Ho previously worked as a fellow and assistant counsel at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), and taught at three New York law schools. He also clerked for Republican appointed Associate Judge Robert Smith of the New York Court of Appeals, the state of New York’s highest court. Judge Smith noted that Mr. Ho’s “sense of the innate worth and dignity of every human being and his ability to behave accordingly will serve him in good stead in a trial courtroom.” In addition to his exceptional qualifications, we note that Dale Ho would be the only Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) man sitting on the bench in the Southern District of New York, one of the most populated and racially diverse regions in the entire nation.
Mr. Ho has demonstrated a deep commitment to equal justice throughout his career. The AFL-CIO urges his expeditious confirmation to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Sincerely,
William Samuel
Director, Government Affairs