Rupa Goswami

Hon. Rupa Searight Goswami – the first South Asian woman on the bench in the state of California -- was appointed by Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr. in 2013. Born in India, Goswami grew up in rural Ohio and Florida. Prior to joining the bench, she served as a federal prosecutor at the United States Attorney’s Office for more than 11 years where she earned the Director’s Award. As an AUSA, Goswami was recognized by the former Attorney General Eric Holder, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Humane Society for her work tackling cyber fraud, environmental crimes, child sex tourism, and crimes involving endangered species. Prior to becoming a federal prosecutor, Goswami clerked for Justice Nora M. Manella, then a United States District Judge and for Terence T. Evans of the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. She was also a litigation associate at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. A graduate of the University of Chicago and UCLA School of Law, Goswami holds both an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the Booth School of Business and a JD. Prior to joining the legal profession, she was a banker in Chicago. Since moving to Los Angeles, Goswami has been active in community service, serving on the California State Bar JNE commission, as a pro tem judge, a juvenile teen court moderator and an adjunct professor of trial advocacy at Loyola Law School. Currently, she is a lecturer in law at USC Gould School of Law, serves the Los Angeles Superior court as an elected member of the Executive Committee, works on the Asian Pacific American Bar Association (“APABA”) judicial pipeline project, and in 2017 SAT pro tem as a Justice on the California Court of Appeal. A past co-president of the South Asian Bar Association of Southern California (“SABA”), Goswami now heads SABA-SC’s Steering Committee. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, children, and elderly parents.

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

The Tribune
December 6, 2018
Re: Elyn Saks

Elyn Saks was quoted in an article exploring the economic and social costs that occur due to the mistreatment of persons suffering from mental illness. "Thirty years ago, I was given a diagnosis of Schizophrenia," she said. "My prognosis was ‘grave’: I would never live independently, hold a job, find a loving partner, or get married. My home would be a board-and-care facility, my days spent watching TV in a day room with other people debilitated by mental illness.” The author of the article went on to discuss the ways that people dealing with mental health issues should be cared for, arguing that they "have the right to live with dignity just as anyone with diabetes or hypertension or heart disease. Mental illness, after all, is an illness like any other."

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

Sam Erman
September, 2018

Sam Erman wrote an op-ed, "Devastation Without Representation in Puerto Rico," posted to The Los Angeles Times on September 20, 2018.

Gregory Keating
September, 2018

"Principles of Risk Imposition and the Priority of Avoiding Harm," Revus [Online] (2018).

Jody David Armour
September, 2018

"Where Bias Lives in the Criminal Law and its Processes: How Judges and Jurors Socially Construct Black Criminals," American Journal of Criminal Law 45 (2018): 203.