Myong Joun
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2023 - Present
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Myong Joun is a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on August 1, 2022, and confirmed by the United States Senate on July 12, 2023, by a vote of 52-46.[1][2][3] Joun was one of 235 Article III judges nominated by President Joe Biden (D) and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.
The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts 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, Joun was an associate justice of the Boston Municipal Court in Massachusetts. He was nominated by Gov. Deval Patrick (D) on September 12, 2014, unanimously approved by the Governor's Council on November 19, 2014, and sworn in on December 3, 2014.[4][5][6]
Judicial nominations and appointments
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts (2023-present)
- See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden
On August 1, 2022, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Joun to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts.[2] Joun's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2023.[7] The president renominated Joun on January 23, 2023.[8] Joun received commission on July 14, 2023.[9] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.
 |
| Nominee Information |
| Name: Myong Joun |
| Court: United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts |
| Progress |
| Confirmed 345 days after nomination. |
 Nominated: August 1, 2022
|
| ABA Rating: Well Qualified
|
| Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
| Hearing: November 15, 2022
|
| Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript |
| QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
| Reported: December 8, 2022 (initial nomination)/February 9, 2023 (second nomination)
|
| Confirmed: July 12, 2023
|
| Vote: 52-46
|
Confirmation vote
The U.S. Senate confirmed Joun by a vote of 52-46 on July 12, 2023.[10] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.
| Joun confirmation vote (July 12, 2023) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Yea | Nay | No vote | ||||||
 Democratic |
47 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
 Republican |
3 | 46 | 0 | ||||||
 Independent |
2 | 0 | 1 | ||||||
| Total | 52 | 46 | 2 | ||||||
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Joun's nomination on November 15, 2022. Joun was reported to the full Senate on December 8, 2022, after a 12-10 committee vote.[11] Joun'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 Joun on January 23, 2023. In a committee hearing on February 9, 2023, Joun was reported to the full Senate, after a 12-9 committee vote.[3] [8] Click here for a list of other nominees awaiting a committee hearing.
Nomination
On July 29, 2022, President Joe Biden (D) announced his intent to nominate Joun to the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The president officially nominated Joun on August 1, 2022.[1][2]
Joun's nomination was returned to the president at the sine die adjournment of the U.S. Senate on January 3, 2023.[13] The president renominated Joun on January 23, 2023.[8]
Joun was nominated to replace Judge George O'Toole, who assumed senior status on January 1, 2018.[2]
The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Joun Well Qualified.[14] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.
Biography
Education
Joun earned a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School.[4]
Professional career
Joun's professional experience includes work in civil rights litigation for the Law Offices of Howard Friedman and criminal defense and civil rights litigation for his own firm, the Joun Law Office. He has also served in the Massachusetts National Guard and as a member of the boards of the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, the National Lawyers Guild, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association, and the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.[4][15] Joun joined the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on July 14, 2023.[9]
About the court
| District of Massachusetts |
|---|
| First Circuit |
|
| Judgeships |
| Posts: 13 |
| Judges: 11 |
| Vacancies: 2 |
| Judges |
| Chief: Denise Casper |
| Active judges: Allison Dale Burroughs, Denise Casper, Margaret R. Guzman, Myong Joun, Angel Kelley, Julia Kobick, Mark G. Mastroianni, Brian Murphy, Leo Sorokin, Richard Stearns, Indira Talwani Senior judges: |
The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts is one of 94 United States district courts. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit based in downtown Boston at the John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse. There are two other courthouses in Worcester and Springfield, Massachusetts.[16]
The District of Massachusetts has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.
The jurisdiction of the District of Massachusetts consists of all the counties in the state of Massachusetts. The court's headquarters are in Boston, with courthouses in Springfield and Worcester.
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.
Noteworthy cases
Supreme Court stays injunction blocking Department of Education reduction in force (2025)
On March 11, 2025, the Department of Education announced it would "initiate a reduction in force (RIF) impacting nearly 50% of the Department’s workforce," which was about 1,378 employees.[17] Twenty states and the District of Columbia filed a lawsuit before the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts on March 13 challenging the reduction in force.[18]
Judge Myong Joun issued a preliminary injunction on May 22, 2025, temporarily preventing the federal government from enacting the Department of Education reduction in force.[19] The federal government appealed the injunction to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which declined to stay the injunction.[20]
The federal government filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court on June 6, 2025, asking the court to stay the lower court's preliminary injunction.[20] On July 14, 2025, the Supreme Court granted the federal government's request for a stay in a 6-3 decision. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissented.[20]
Supreme Court stays order reinstating certain federal education grants (2025)
On February 7, 2025, the Department of Education began terminating grants related to the Teacher Quality Partnership (TQP) program, a program seeking to "support high-quality teacher preparation and professional development for prospective teachers and school leaders," and the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) program, a program seeking to "increase the number of highly effective educators by supporting the implementation of Evidence-Based practices that prepare, develop, or enhance the skills of educators."[21][22] In a press release, the Department of Education said it terminated "grants to institutions and nonprofits that were using taxpayer funds to train teachers and education agencies on divisive ideologies."[23]
Eight states, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta (D), filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts against the terminations, arguing that the directive violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA). The plaintiffs asked the court to prevent the federal government from further grant terminations and to restore previously-awarded funds.[24] Judge Myong Joun issued an order on March 10, 2025, temporarily ordering the federal government to restore terminated TQP and SEED grants to the plaintiff states and preventing the federal government from terminating any further TQP and SEED grants in the plaintiff states.[25] The federal government appealed the order to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which denied its request for a stay pending appeal on March 21, 2025.[26]
The federal government filed an emergency application with the Supreme Court, saying the lower court did not have jurisdiction to compel grant payments and that the government's action did not violate the APA. The federal government asked the court to vacate the lower court's order.[27] On April 4, 2025, the Supreme Court granted a stay of the lower court order pending appeal, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor, and Ketanji Brown Jackson dissenting.[28]
See also
- Suffolk County, Massachusetts
- Boston Municipal Courts, Massachusetts
- Judicial selection in Massachusetts
- United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts
- Boston Municipal Court
- Boston Municipal Court Justices
- Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The White House, "President Biden Names Twenty-Fourth Round of Judicial Nominees," July 29, 2022
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Congress.gov, "PN2436 — Myong J. Joun — The Judiciary," August 1, 2022
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Committee on the Judiciary, "Results of Executive Business Meeting – February 9, 2023," accessed February 9, 2023
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Office of the Governor, "Myong J. Joun," September 12, 2014
- ↑ Patrick McCabe's Governor's Council, "November 19, 2014," November 19, 2014
- ↑ Office of Governor Deval L. Patrick, "Governor Patrick's Public Schedule," December 3, 2014
- ↑ Under Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, pending nominations are returned to the president if the Senate adjourns sine die or recesses for more than 30 days.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedRenom - ↑ 9.0 9.1 The Federal Judicial Center, "Joun, Myong Jin," accessed July 17, 2023
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcong2 - ↑ Senate Judiciary Committee, "Results of Executive Business Meeting – December 8, 2022," December 8, 2022
- ↑ Under Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, pending nominations are returned to the president if the Senate adjourns sine die or recesses for more than 30 days.
- ↑ Under Senate Rule XXXI, paragraph 6 of the Standing Rules of the Senate, pending nominations are returned to the president if the Senate adjourns sine die or recesses for more than 30 days.
- ↑ American Bar Association, "RATINGS OF ARTICLE III AND ARTICLE IV JUDICIAL NOMINEES 117th Congress," last updated December 12, 2022
- ↑ Lawyers Diary and Manual, "Biographies of Massachusetts Judges," accessed May 15, 2017
- ↑ United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, accessed May 20, 2021
- ↑ Department of Education, "U.S. Department of Education Initiates Reduction in Force," July 15, 2025
- ↑ CourtListener, "Complaint — Document #1," March 13, 2025
- ↑ CourtListener, "Order on Motion for Preliminary Injunction — Document #128," May 22, 2025
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 Supreme Court, "Application," accessed July 15, 2025
- ↑ Department of Education, "Supporting Effective Educator Development Grant Program," accessed April 7, 2025
- ↑ Department of Education, "Teacher Quality Partnership Program," accessed April 7, 2025
- ↑ Department of Education, "U.S. Department of Education Cuts Over $600 Million in Divisive Teacher Training Grants," February 17, 2025
- ↑ Court Listener, "California v. Department of Education," accessed April 7, 2025
- ↑ CourtListener, "Memorandum and Order," accessed April 24, 2025
- ↑ CourtListener, "State of California v. US Department of Education (25-1244)," April 23, 2025
- ↑ Supreme Court, "Department of Education v. California emergency application," accessed April 24, 2025
- ↑ Supreme Court, "No. 24A910 docket," accessed April 24, 2025
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by George O'Toole |
United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Boston Municipal Courts |
Succeeded by - |
Federal courts:
First Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: District of Massachusetts • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: District of Massachusetts
State courts:
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court • Massachusetts Appeals Court • Massachusetts Superior Courts • Massachusetts District Courts • Massachusetts Housing Courts • Massachusetts Juvenile Courts • Massachusetts Land Courts • Massachusetts Probate and Family Courts • Boston Municipal Courts, Massachusetts
State resources:
Courts in Massachusetts • Massachusetts judicial elections • Judicial selection in Massachusetts
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