Ming Chin

Ming Chin 陳惠明
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California
Incumbent
Assumed office March 1, 1996
Nominated by	Pete Wilson
Preceded by	Armand Arabian
Personal details
Born	(1942-08-31) August 31, 1942 Klamath Falls, Oregon, U.S.
Spouse	Carol Joe ​ (m. 1971)​
Children	Jennifer and Jason
Alma mater	University of San Francisco (B.A., J.D.)

Ming William Chin (Chinese: 陳惠明; pinyin: Chén Huìmíng; born August 31, 1942) is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California. He was appointed to the California Supreme Court by Governor Pete Wilson on January 25, 1996, and confirmed by the Commission on Judicial Appointments and sworn in on March 1, 1996. He was retained by the electorate in November 1998, with 69.3% percent of the vote. Justice Chin is of Asian descent.

In 1969, Chin was awarded an United States Army Commendation Medal and a Bronze Star for his service in the Vietnam War.

He authored the most majority opinions at the Supreme Court during 1997, his first full term.

He is well-known among California employment lawyers as one of the four current authors of the Rutter Group practice guide on employment litigation.

Notable cases

In 2008, Chin was part of the dissenting minority in In re Marriage Cases, a 4-3 decision legalizing same-sex marriage in California.

Education

• High school diploma, Bellarmine College Preparatory, 1960
• B.A., Political Science, University of San Francisco, 1964
• J.D., Law, University of San Francisco School of Law, 1967

Personal life

Chin was born and raised in Klamath Falls, Oregon. He wed Carol Joe, a pharmacist in 1971, with whom he has two children: Jennifer (b. 1974) and Jason (b. 1976).

In August 2011, an ethics complaint was filed with the California Commission of Judicial Performance against Justice Chin because of his involvement with a non-profit entity which caters exclusively to Asian-Americans. In November 2011, and while the complaint was pending, Justice Chin abruptly quit said entity which caters exclusively to Asian American. The non-profit at issue is Pasadena-based Center for Asian-American United for Self Empowerment ("CAUSE"), which allegedly spends the money it collects for the purpose of voter-registration of API, as well as to lobby for furthering the appointments of APIs to various governmental positions.