Dale Ho

Southern District of New York
	Second Circuit
Judgeships
	Posts: 28
	Judges: 28
	Vacancies: 0
Judges
	Chief: Laura Swain
	Active judges: Ronnie Abrams, Vernon Broderick, Valerie Caproni, Andrew L. Carter Jr., Jessica Clarke, John Peter Cronan, Paul A. Engelmayer, Katherine Failla, Jesse Furman, Margaret Garnett, Philip M. Halpern, Dale Ho, Kenneth Karas, John Koeltl, Lewis Liman, James Paul Oetken, Edgardo Ramos, Jennifer Rearden, Jennifer Rochon, Nelson S. Roman, Lorna Schofield, Cathy Seibel, Arun Subramanian, Laura Swain, Analisa Torres, Jeannette Vargas, Mary Kay Vyskocil, Gregory Howard Woods; Senior judges:; Richard Berman, Vincent L. Briccetti, Naomi Buchwald, Kevin Castel, Denise Cote, Paul Crotty, George Daniels, Paul Gardephe, Charles Haight, Alvin Hellerstein, Lewis Kaplan, John Keenan, Victor Marrero, Colleen McMahon, Loretta Preska, Jed Rakoff, Louis Stanton, Sidney Stein, Kimba Wood

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
	Name: Dale Ho
	Court: United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Progress
	Confirmed 622 days after nomination.
	Nominated: September 30, 2021
	ABA Rating: Well Qualified by a substantial majority/Qualified by a minority
	Questionnaire: Questionnaire
	Hearing: December 1, 2021
	Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript
	QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more)
	Reported: January 20, 2022 (initial nomination)/ February 9, 2023 (second nomination)
	Confirmed: June 14, 2023
	Vote: 50-49

Dale Ho is a judge on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on January 3, 2023, and confirmed by the United States Senate on June 14, 2023, by a vote of 50-49.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.

Prior to joining the court, Ho was a director with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project.^[1]

Judicial nominations and appointments

United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (2023-present)

See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden

On September 30, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Dale Ho to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.^[1]^[2] Ho received commission on August 18, 2023.^[7] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.

Confirmation vote

The U.S. Senate confirmed Ho by a vote of 50-49 on June 14, 2023.^[5] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.

Ho confirmation vote (June 14, 2023)
Party	Yea	Nay	No vote
Democratic	47	1	0
Republican	0	48	1
Independent	3	0	0
Total	50	49	1

Senate Judiciary Committee hearing

The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Ho's nomination on December 1, 2021. On January 20, 2022, the committee cast a tie vote to report Ho to the full United States Senate for a confirmation vote. As a result, Ho was not reported favorably to the full Senate.^[9] In a committee hearing on February 9, 2023, Ho was reported to the full Senate, after a 11-10 committee vote.^[6]

Nomination

On September 30, 2021, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate Ho to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.^[1] The president officially nominated Ho on the same day.^[2]

Ho's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2022.^[10] The president renominated Ho on the same day.^[3]

Ho was nominated to replace Judge Katherine Forrest, who retired on September 11, 2018.^[2]

The American Bar Association rated Ho Well Qualified by a substantial majority and Qualified by a minority with one recusal.^[11] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.

Ho's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2023.^[12] The president renominated Ho on the same day.^[5]

Biography

Education

Ho earned a bachelor's degree, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Princeton University in 1999. He earned a J.D. from Yale Law School in 2005.^[1]

Professional career

2023-present: Judge, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
2013-2023: Director with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project
2009-2013: Assistant counsel, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc.
2007-2009: Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, LLP, New York, New York
- Litigation associate
- NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Fellow
2006-2007: Law clerk, Judge Robert S. Smith, New York Court of Appeals
2005-2006: Law clerk, Judge Barbara Jones, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York^[1]

About the court

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York is one of 94 United States district courts. The Southern District is one of the most influential and active federal district courts in the United States, largely because of its jurisdiction over New York's major financial centers. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit based in Lower Manhattan at the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Federal Courthouse.

The Counties of the Southern District of New York (click for larger map)

The Southern District of New York has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

The court shares geographic jurisdiction over New York City with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, which manages Brooklyn, Queens, and Richmond (Staten Island) counties, along with Nassau and Suffolk on Long Island.

To read opinions published by this court, click here.

The federal nomination process

Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:

The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.

As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.

After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.

If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.

The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.

If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.