June 24, 2010
Phoenix Municipal Court Chief Presiding Judge Roxanne K. Song Ong was presented the Judicial Award of Excellence by the State Bar of Arizona at its 77th Annual State Bar Convention held recently at the Renaissance Glendale Hotel and Spa. The Judicial Award of Excellence recognizes a judicial officer for outstanding dedication and commitment to improving the justice system. Song Ong, the first Asian woman judge in Arizona and the first Woman and minority to be named as Phoenix’s Chief Presiding Judge, has served in the Phoenix Municipal Court for 19 years.
Song Ong received her B.A. degree in Education from Arizona State University and her J.D. degree from the University of Arizona College of Law. She has served as chair to the Arizona Supreme Court’s Committee on Judicial Education and Training and the Commission on Minorities and serves as a faculty member of the Arizona Supreme Court’s New Judge Orientation Program and for the Arizona Judicial College. Song Ong is also a board member of the Arizona Foundation for Legal Services and Education serving as its chair to the Law Related Education Committee. Additionally, she is a board member of the State Bar of Arizona’s Leadership Institute and is an officer with the Arizona Minority Judges’ Caucus.
Song Ong is recognized in “Arizona’s Pioneering Women in Law,” published by the Women Law Students’ Association of the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. She has received many other awards and distinctions during her career, including the 2009 National Asian American Bar Association’s Trailblazer Award, the organization’s highest honor and was honored as one of 100 outstanding “Women and Minorities” of the state of Arizona. Song Ong has served as a judge for the Phoenix Municipal Court since 1991 and was appointed as the court’s chief presiding judge in 2005. She served as a judge for the Scottsdale City Court from 1986 to 1991. Before her career on the bench, Song Ong practiced in the areas of criminal prosecution, defense and immigration law.
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