An Immigrant’s Childhood
Judge Gail Chang Bohr’s childhood in Jamaica, West Indies, a British colony, prepared her well to be an advocate for children and a Minnesota District Court judge. Bohr was born to Percy and Alice Chang on March 25, 1944, in Kingston, Jamaica. Her Chinese name, Gui-Ying, is also the name of a historic woman warrior. Her English name Gail Margaret Rose honored her grandmother, Margaret Chin Loy, and Britain’s Princess Margaret.
In 1921, at the age of 15, Chang Bohr’s father left China to sail to Jamaica to work for his uncle. China was then in crisis: Western forces, including Japan, were trying to carve China up into spheres of influence. Lawlessness and banditry were rampant, and the country’s infrastructure was in disrepair. For rural residents, farming was almost impossible because the irrigation systems were broken. Chang himself had to hide from bandits as he walked from his village to Hong Kong to see his brother. He noticed the bullet holes in the Lo Wu Bridge he had to cross on the way. The constraints he confronted in China were underscored by the signs he often saw in Hong Kong: “No dogs or Chinese allowed.” Emigration had to be better than this.
As a Hakka Chinese, Chang Bohr’s father embodied Hakka characteristics of hard work, risk taking, honesty, and resourcefulness. The Hakkas originated in the north of China but were pushed further into the south of China by invading Mongols. In 1951, her father opened Chang’s Emporium, Jamaica’s first self-service supermarket, a testament to his hard work. On weekdays, he opened the shop at 7:00 a.m. and closed at 10:00 p.m., and at midnight on the weekends. The children helped in every way. Chang Bohr herself did all needed jobs: bagging sugar, flour, and rice; packing the shelves; and working the cash register. Her father, who built everything in the store from shelves to shopping carts, impressed on his children that they should never talk back to customers for they were “always right.” He taught them to relate to all kinds of customers. Her mother attended Mass every day and was a founding member of Holy Cross Parish Church. She helped many poor Jamaicans who came to her for help.
Judge Chang Bohr’s experience as the ninth of 15 children – six girls and nine boys – strongly influenced her later decision to be an advocate for children. The older sisters were responsible for taking care of the younger siblings. As she stated, “Children are really valued in Chinese culture. At mealtime, for example, children are served first. Each sister had a younger brother we were in charge of.” The sudden death of an older brother in a car accident impressed on her the fragility of life and the importance of expressing your love and care for others, while they are still living.
Chang Bohr’s forward-thinking mother impressed on the children the value of education. Her parents paid the children’s school fees and supported their piano and dance lessons. Because the Chinese were a minority in Jamaica, the Changs wanted their children to speak English without an accent and decided not to speak Chinese at home.
Personal and Early Professional Life
Judge Chang Bohr came to the United States in 1962 from Jamaica to attend Wellesley College, in Massachusetts, on a full scholarship. Her journey to higher education was influenced by many mentors and supporters along the way. A Jesuit priest encouraged her to apply to well-known U.S. women’s colleges. Attending school in the U.S. was a culture shock for her as she came to the urban Boston area in the United States from an island recently granted independence from colonial England.
Chang Bohr’s faculty advisor and sociology professor encouraged her to become a social worker after graduation. At the time, her plan was to return to Jamaica. Because she was not a U.S. citizen, she was not eligible for most student financial aid, but she secured a fellowship in the master’s program at Simmons College School of Social Work. She graduated with a Master of Science in Social Work degree in 1968.
Chang Bohr decided to remain in the United States and secured employment at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston at its Roxbury outreach children’s clinic. When she and her husband, Richard, were married, they moved to Hong Kong where he taught at the Diocesan Boys School. Out of the blue, Chang Bohr was offered a position as a Field Work Instructor at the University of Hong Kong Social Work Department by Peter Hodges, head of the department. Hodges had received a letter of introduction for Chang Bohr from Janet Wien, head of the Social Work Department at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston’s Chinatown. Wien had chaired an alumnae committee that Chang Bohr served on. That fortuitous development made Chang Bohr realize the importance of showing up, because Wien got to know her only from those few meetings.
Chang Bohr and her husband returned to the United States in 1974. She became the lead pediatric social worker at the University of California-Davis Medical School, Sacramento Medical Center. She was also the social worker for pediatric specialty clinics, working with and counseling children who had cancer, diabetes, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, spinal injuries, and amputations, as well as working with their parents.
After Chang Bohr became a U.S. citizen in 1986, she began to consider law school. Another professional influence that spurred Chang Bohr’s decision was her work at the Children’s Home Society in St. Paul. There, she worked with women who had unplanned pregnancies, and with birth parents who made adoption plans for their children. She understood that their grief process was very similar to that of parents going through the loss of their terminally ill children. She believed that getting a law degree would enhance her ability to advocate for children and their families. With the unwavering support of her husband, Richard, and their two children, Aaron and Jessica, then 10 and 5 years old, she resigned her position, sat for the LSAT, and began law school that same year, 1987.
Early Legal Career
At the age of 43, following a 19-year career in clinical social work with children and families, Chang Bohr entered William Mitchell College of Law, graduating magna cum laude in 1991. As the first lawyer in her family – and with no Asian Pacific American peers in her class – Chang Bohr had no one to advise her. Having had no experience with law review, she listened to what other students were saying and decided to “write on” to the William Mitchell Law Review, where she moved up the ladder as editor and then executive editor before she graduated. She studied and worked hard to show her appreciation for the love and support her husband and children gave her. She also participated in a Law in Literature reading group which met on Sundays with Prof. Russ Pannier, Court of Appeals Judge Harriet Lansing, and Robins Kaplan attorney Randall Tietjen. Her children, Aaron and Jessica, spent many hours in the cafeteria and law review office when Richard, then Director of Minnesota’s Trade Office, was traveling and she had classes.
After law school, she clerked for the Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, A.M. “Sandy” Keith, at the time that the Court was comprised of a majority of women justices. She loved researching the law and drafting opinions, and it was there that she first thought about becoming a judge. After clerking, she became an associate at Faegre & Benson LLP in the areas of employee benefits, labor and employment, and immigration law.
Another life changing event for Chang Bohr was attending the International Women’s Conference held in Beijing in 1995. There, for the first time, she met with other Asian & Pacific Islander American women from all around the United States. They were able to remain in touch and work on issues of concern to APIA women in the United States.
An Advocate for Children
Chang Bohr loved the opportunity to do pro bono work and won asylum in two cases: one for a family from Somalia and the other for an Evangelical Christian family from Belarus. Through the process of gaining asylum for her clients, Chang Bohr realized her work saved their lives. In 1995, her social work background with children and families led her to apply to become the first executive director of the newly formed Children’s Law Center of Minnesota (CLC).
At CLC, Chang Bohr initiated programs to provide representation to children in the foster care system. During her 13-year tenure at CLC, in addition to representing children in court, recruiting and managing over 270 CLC pro bono lawyers, and advocating for system reform, she was co-counsel in 21 federal and state appeals and amicus curiae briefs. She participated in the production of the American Bar Association DVD “Interviewing the Child Client,” narrated by Amy Brenneman, and taught trial advocacy for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy. She also served as a faculty member at CLC’s training programs for pro bono lawyers who represented children in the foster care system. In 1998, under her leadership, CLC also developed the training program for lawyers, titled “Children and Immigration Law,” regarded as the first program of its kind.
Chang Bohr’s knowledge of asylum law came into play at CLC. In one memorable case, she represented a child who was a refugee from a persecuted minority group in Nigeria. The child lived with an “uncle” and his family, but basically, she was little more than a servant girl. When she wanted to do schoolwork instead of housework, her “uncle” beat her, leaving visible marks on her body. The matter came to the attention of child protection officials. The county decided, with the uncle, that the child was a troublemaker and should be sent back to Nigeria. The child told Chang Bohr she did not know her parents, their names, or their whereabouts, so when the county said they had called the parents at a phone number given them by the uncle, Chang Bohr questioned the authenticity of the statement. Chang Bohr also knew that, because the child was a refugee, the county did not have jurisdiction to send her back to Nigeria. Chang Bohr brought a Child in Need of Protection or Services (CHIPS) motion and argued it before the court. The Juvenile Court judge vacated his order to return the child to Nigeria, and instead ordered the child to be a CHIPS child and placed her in foster care.
Chang Bohr became a respected authority on juvenile rights. She has written many articles on due process rights and the representation of children, and has served on professional committees, including the ABA Section of Litigation Children’s Rights Litigation Committee Working Group, the ABA Project for Judicial Excellence in Child Abuse and Neglect Proceedings, the Minnesota Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee, the Ramsey County Juvenile Court Children’s Justice Initiative, and the Hennepin County Juvenile Court Children’s Justice Initiative.
A Judicial “First” in the Second District
Judge Chang Bohr was inspired to consider her next career as judge when the Quie Commission was traveling the state taking testimony on whether Minnesota should change from a judicial election to a judicial appointment only system. Chang Bohr testified against amending the Minnesota Constitution because she was convinced that the election system was the best opportunity for women and minority lawyers to become judges. She had personal experience with this approach, having applied for appointment several times during a particular administration, only to learn that she would never be appointed during that governor’s administration – even though he claimed to be seeking qualified minority applicants. Chang Bohr decided that if she wanted to be a judge, she should “put her money where her mouth is” and run for election in an open judicial seat in Ramsey County.
During her 2008 campaign, she had grassroots support from many, including the Hmong and Asian Pacific American (APA) community. And, her good friend Sister Marie Shaun, a Carondelet nun, admonished her, when she hesitated, “duc in altum” (lead into the deep) – have faith and take the risk. She enjoyed campaigning opportunities like walking in parades, speaking to groups, even singing karaoke at Melvin Carter’s community karaoke night at Arnellia’s Bar and Restaurant on St. Paul’s University Avenue. She saw campaigning as an opportunity for a civics lesson to educate the community on what judges do. She reminded the audience that, just as Barack Obama was on track to become the first African American president, so she would be the first APA judge in the Second Judicial District of Ramsey County, home to the largest APA population in Minnesota, as well as the first Jamaican-born judge. While she was speaking at an African American church “Get Out the Vote” event days before the election, she was inspired by the historic moment of the presidential election.
In the primary, Chang Bohr ran in a field of eight candidates, including herself. In the general election, Chang Bohr gathered endorsements from former Vice President Walter Mondale and six retired justices from the Minnesota Supreme Court with whom she had worked. On November 4, 2008, she was elected to an open judicial seat in Ramsey County, receiving 52% of the vote.
Judge Chang Bohr’s former career as a social worker and her personal history as an Asian Pacific American informed her as judge in Ramsey County. Her knowledge “helped to cut through barriers,” and she was “told that seeing a face like hers makes people feel the system will be fair.”
Chang Bohr’s experience as a social worker taught her how to listen to people and to pay attention to their life situations when determining an appropriate criminal sentence. For example, on one occasion when she was adjudicating a driving while intoxicated (DWI) case involving a defendant struggling with the death of a close relative, she ordered grief counseling so the defendant could understand that alcohol “was being used as a mask for the feelings of loss.” Her experience also helped when she served as a judge in Mental Health Court.
On the bench, Chang Bohr also had the opportunity to use her knowledge as an advocate for children. As a judge, Chang Bohr realized that in Family Court, on petitions to return custody of children to the parent after the child had been removed from the home by the state and custody transferred to a relative, the county attorney’s office responsible for the removal and transfer of custody did not have notice of the Family Court petition. When she brought up this failure to coordinate cases, the law was amended to require that the county attorney’s office receive notice and that custody petitions after a transfer be heard in Juvenile Court.
One of her most memorable cases involved a young man she had adjudicated in juvenile court. He had held up pizza parlors wearing a mask and brandishing a gun. On extended juvenile jurisdiction, he successfully completed a rehabilitation program and found a friend’s mother to provide foster care. On his 18th birthday, he went for a drive with the foster brother, drank alcohol, took the foster brother’s gun which was in glove compartment, and fired it – all actions that violated his probation. When he went back before Judge Chang Bohr, pleading that she not revoke his status under extended juvenile jurisdiction, she denied his request and sentenced him to prison. She encouraged him not to consider himself a bad person, but as someone with the ability to change his life and avail himself of programs in prison while he served his sentence. Years later, he requested that Judge Chang Bohr officiate at his marriage, telling her, “I want you to know I turned my life around.”
Serving in retirement
Judge Bohr retired from the bench on March 31, 2014. Since then, she has served as a Senior Judge with statewide jurisdiction. As well, Chang Bohr is the alternate Senior Judge Representative to the Minnesota District Judges Foundation, which plans Continuing Judicial Education courses for judges.
In 2014, Judge Bohr accepted an invitation from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) to become an international consultant to provide technical assistance in its Juvenile Justice Projects in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, specifically St. Lucia and Trinidad. The invitation grew out of a chance meeting in 2011 with the NCSC program manager for international justice projects when Chang Bohr was on a visit to her hometown of Kingston, Jamaica. At the time, Chang Bohr participated in a radio program sponsored by Jamaicans for Justice that discussed ways to improve juvenile justice in Jamaica. The program manager heard the program and later contacted her. In Trinidad, Chang Bohr trained magistrates and judges regarding best practices in juvenile justice and consulted about Youth Courts.
Chang Bohr has participated in national conferences and training programs. These efforts include a webcast on Human Trafficking, an ABA Children’s Rights Litigation Committee (CRLC) Symposium on Improving the Responses to Children and Families at Risk, and a CRLC State of the Child Summit. She was also invited to give the opening remarks at the 2014 Women’s Access to Leadership Conference in Minneapolis.
Helping young people learn about the court system has been an abiding interest of Judge Chang Bohr. She has volunteered in the Open Doors to Federal Courts Initiative, a program to introduce high school students to the law and the federal justice system. As part of the program, for example, she shared materials about the Dred Scott Case, the Fourteenth Amendment, and Justice Thurgood Marshall. She also speaks to students at Mitchell Hamline School of Law and at high schools about her career path.
She was one of the authors involved in the publication, Tough Cases: Judges Tell the Stories of Some of the Hardest Decisions They’ve Ever Made, The New Press (2018).
In 2021, Chang Bohr assumed the presidency of the Infinity Project, whose mission is to increase the number of women on the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and create a pipeline for women lawyers and lawyers of color to be state and federal judges in Minnesota. Indeed, Chang Bohr was supported by members of the Infinity Project in her successful election to the judgeship. She may even have been the first recipient of Infinity Project’s candidate support!
She is a mentor to Asian Pacific Americans and to new lawyers. She has served on the Board of Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers and was a member of the ABA, MSBA, RCBA, HCBA, and MNAPABA bar associations, and is on the NAPABA Judicial Council.
Chang Bohr has received numerous awards for her work as judge and child advocate. In 2018, she was a recipient of Minnesota Lawyer Diversity and Inclusion Award and Girl Scouts River Valleys Woman of Distinction Award. In 2016, she received NAPABA’s Daniel K. Inouye Trailblazer Award, the Toronto Hakka Achievement Award, and the AARP 50 Over 50 Disruptor Award. In 2015, she received the Lifetime Service Award from the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans. In June 2008, she was named one of the top 10 legal newsmakers of the decade by Minnesota Lawyer. In 2007, she received the ABA Child Advocacy Award, the William Mitchell College of Law Warren E. Burger Distinguished Service Award, and Minnesota Lawyer‘s Outstanding Service to the Profession Award. She was the recipient of the Minnesota State Bar Association Civil Litigation Section Advocate Award in 2004, the Minnesota Lawyer Attorney of the Year Award in 2000, and the Minnesota Council of Child Caring Agencies Distinguished Service Award in 1997. She was also one of six recipients of the Minnesota Council on Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Distinguished Service Award in 2016.
References
*The quotations in this biography are taken from the references below.
Dick Dahl, Diversity & Inclusion: Senior Judge Gail Chang Bohr, Minnesota Lawyer (Oct. 4, 2018), https://minnlawyer.com/2018/10/04/diversity-inclusion-senior-judge-gail-chang-bohr/
Emily Gurnon, 8 Lawyers Vie for Rare Open Judgeship in Ramsey County, Pioneer Press, (Aug. 26, 2008, updated Nov. 14, 2015), https://www.twincities.com/2008/08/26/8-lawyers-vie-for-rare-open-judgeship-in-ramsey-county-2/
Tom Laventure, The Judicial Legacy of Gail Chang Bohr, Asian American Press (May 25, 2014).
Interview by Prof. Marie Failinger with Judge Gail Chang Bohr (Oct. 14, 2020)
Minnesota Judicial Branch, Senior Judge Gail Chang Bohr, https://www.mncourts.gov/About-The-Courts/Overview/JudicialDirectory/Bio.aspx?id=66