United States Commission on Civil Rights Announces Appointments of New Commissioners

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Jul 25, 2014, 05:04 ET

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights announced today that President Obama has appointed two distinguished individuals to six-year terms as commissioners on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights:

Karen K. Narasaki. Karen K. Narasaki is an independent civil and human rights consultant. Ms. Narasaki was previously the President and Executive Director of the Asian American Justice Center from 1995 to 2012. She was the Washington Representative for the Japanese American Citizens League from 1992 to 1994 and was a corporate attorney at Perkins Coie from 1986 to 1991. Ms. Narasaki began her career as a law clerk for Judge Harry Pregerson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 1985 to 1986. Ms. Narasaki is currently Chair of the Asian American Diversity Advisory Council for Comcast/NBCU and Co-Chair of the Asian American Advisory Council for Nielsen. She also manages the Shelby Response Fund for Public Interest Projects. She has served on many boards and commissions throughout her career, including Vice Chair of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and Chair of the Rights Working Group. She was a board member for Common Cause, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Independent Sector, and the National Immigration Law Center. Ms. Narasaki received a B.A. from Yale College and a J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law.

Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson. Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson was most recently an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of North Carolina from 2006 to 2012. She served as an Associate Judge on the North Carolina Court of Appeals from 1997 to 2005 and a District Court Judge for the Twelfth District of North Carolina from 1984 to 1997. Prior to her appointment to the District Court, Justice Timmons-Goodson was a Staff Attorney at Lumbee River Legal Services from 1983 to 1984 and was an Assistant District Attorney for the Twelfth Prosecutorial District of North Carolina from 1981 to 1983. She began her career as a District Manager for the United States Census Bureau in the Department of Commerce from 1979 to 1980. Justice Timmons-Goodson has served in several leadership positions with the American Bar Association, and is a member of the Guilford College Board of Trustees and the Advisory Committee of the North Carolina Judicial College. In recognition of her long and distinguished service to the judiciary and people of North Carolina she has been inducted into the North Carolina Women's Hall of Fame and awarded three honorary degrees. Justice Timmons-Goodson received a B.A. and a J.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an L.L.M. from Duke University School of Law.

Chairman Martin R. Castro said, "I am pleased to welcome two such distinguished persons as Commissioners Narasaki and Timmons-Goodson to the Commission. Their record of progressive leadership in civil rights will contribute greatly to our work as the nation's conscience on civil rights."

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency charged with advising the President and Congress on civil rights matters and issuing a federal civil rights enforcement report. For information about Commission's reports and meetings, visit http://www.usccr.gov.

Media contact: Lenore Ostrowsky
Acting Chief, Public Affairs
(202) 376-8591 [email protected]

SOURCE U.S. Commission on Civil Rights