Atsushi Wallace Tashima at a glance
- Current role
- Senior U.S. Circuit Judge
- Jurisdiction
- National federal courts · Federal
- Judicial service
- Active
Atsushi Wallace Tashima
Senior U.S. Circuit Judge · U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Service record and verification
Judicial service and assignments
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge · Not Current In Effective Roster · January 4, 1996–Not Current In Effective Roster · Assignment source ↗
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit · U.S. Circuit Judge · Senior · Assignment source ↗
Appointment and verification
- Appointment method
- Presidential appointment with Senate confirmation
- Appointing authority
- William J. Clinton
- Source authority
- Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory
Biography
Professional career
- Judge, District Court, C.D. California, 1980-1996
- Deputy attorney general, State of California, 1961-1967
- Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Current Role: Senior Judge, Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
Education
- B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles (1958) and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School (1961).
Additional information
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: Nominated by President Bill Clinton on April 6, 1995, confirmed January 2, 1996, and assumed senior status on June 30, 2004.
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California: Appointed by President Jimmy Carter on May 9, 1980, confirmed by the Senate on June 26, 1980, and served until January 8, 1996.
- Private practice, Los Angeles, CA, 1977-1980
- General Attorney and Vice President of Amstar (1972–1977)
- Amstar Corporation, 1968-1977
- Attorney in the Spreckels Sugar Division of Amstar Corporation (1968–1972)
- Served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1953 to 1956, attaining the rank of sergeant.
- Born June 24, 1934 in Santa Maria, California, to Yasutaro and Aya Tashima, Tashima is a Nisei (second-generation) Japanese American.
- Date of birth: 1934-01-01
- The third Asian American and first Japanese American appointed to a U.S. Court of Appeals.
- Notable Fact: First Japanese American on the U.S. Court of Appeals.
- Theodore Roosevelt High School
- As a child during World War II, he and his family were interned at the Poston War Relocation Center in Arizona under Executive Order 9066.
- After the war, his family settled in Southern California, and he grew up in Boyle Heights, graduating from Roosevelt High School in East Los Angeles.
- Birth place: Santa Maria, CA
Applicable Court Rules & Procedures
Oral argument
Courtwide
In federal courts of appeals, oral argument is allowed unless a three-judge panel unanimously finds one of Rule 34's specified grounds for dispensing with it; the clerk provides the date, time, place, and time allocation.
Oral argument must be allowed in every case unless a panel of three judges who have examined the briefs and record unanimously agrees that oral argument is unnecessaryFederal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument ↗
Sources
Identity source checked July 25, 2026.
Biography sources checked October 11, 2026.
Federal Judicial Center biography
Identity source · HTML · Federal Judicial Center Biographical Directory · effective January 4, 1996 · Source checked July 25, 2026
View Federal Judicial Center biography ↗CourtListener judicial biographical directory
Identity source · HTML · CourtListener / Free Law Project · Source checked August 2, 2026
View CourtListener judicial biographical directory ↗Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument
Courtwide source · HTML · Supreme Court of the United States and Judicial Conference of the United States · Source checked July 26, 2026
View Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 34, Oral Argument ↗