Meet Deputy District Attorney Jack Yeh
In honor of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Heritage Month, which is observed throughout the month of May, we are featuring stories of DA employees, what inspired them to pursue a career in public service and their contributions at the DA’s Office.
Meet Deputy District Attorney Jack Yeh, who has been with the DA’s Office since 2018, and is currently the misdemeanor team leader in the South Bay Branch.
Read more about what inspired him to pursue a career at the DA’s Office, below.
Why did you choose a career in public service/what inspired you to pursue this career?
“I’m an immigrant from Taiwan. My mother and my grandparents were all public servants for the Taiwanese government. When I arrived in Texas in 1998, I saw that members of the Chinese American community generally regarded law enforcement with fear and apprehension. As I grew older, I saw that this fear often led to an under-utilization of public services and under-reporting of crime within the Chinese American community. One of the many reasons I chose this career is to show, through representation, that the criminal justice system belongs to everyone in the community.”
What does AANHPI Month mean to you/why is it important?
“Asian American history runs deep in California, but it’s also important to celebrate the impact that AANHPI have had on the arc of the broader American history. Some of the earliest non-native settlements in continental North America were established by Filipino sailors brought to Louisiana on Spanish ships. After the founding of the United States, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Gentlemen’s Agreement of 1907 reversed demographic trends on the West Coast and indirectly led to the landmark United States Supreme Court case of U.S. v. Wong Kim Ark (1898) 169 U.S. 649, which established birth-right citizenship for all under the 14th Amendment, regardless of ethnicity. AANHPI Heritage Month is a celebration of the accomplishments and impact AANHPI have had on our home.”
A fun fact about you or what do you enjoy doing in your free time?
“When I’m home, I enjoy spending time with my baby, Atticus. When I’m away, I enjoy talking about the best boy in the west: Atticus. Explore AAPI in prosecution with the National Asian Pacific Islander Prosecutor’s Association (NAPIPA)!”
