The Honorable Kenly Kiya Kato
United States District Judge - Central District of California
Judge Kenly Kiya Kato serves as a District Judge for the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Prior to her elevation, Judge Kato served for nearly a decade as a United States Magistrate Judge. In addition to her civil and criminal docket, Judge Kato serves as a team member on the District’s collaborative courts, Conviction and Sentencing Alternatives (“CASA”) and Substance Abuse Treatment and Reentry (“STAR”), which focus on rehabilitation, reentry, and alternatives to incarceration.
Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Kato maintained a private practice focused primarily on federal criminal defense, while also handling civil rights and employment litigation in state and federal courts. She served on the court’s Criminal Justice Act panel and assisted the court as a member of the Merit Selection Panel and Attorney Discipline Committee. Judge Kato also served as a Deputy Federal Public Defender for the Central District of California, representing hundreds of clients charged with a broad range of federal offenses and briefing and arguing cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Judge Kato earned her Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her Juris Doctor degree, cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Following law school, she clerked for the Honorable Robert M. Takasugi of the Central District of California.
In addition to her judicial duties, Judge Kato is actively involved in bar and professional organizations, including the Federal Bar Association, where she serves as a board member. Her professional recognitions include the Justice Stephen K. Tamura Award from the Asian Pacific American Lawyers of the Inland Empire, honoring her dedication to constitutional rights and her contributions to advancing Asian Americans in the legal profession and the broader community.