Leung, Cynthia, 1967-

Born and raised in Palm Desert, California, Cynthia Leung is the first Chinese-American woman elected as Las Vegas Municipal Court Judge; she was the only Asian child in her elementary school, and she grew up surrounded by the arts. She was the younger daughter of a Chinese brush artist mother and an architect father, and her older sister went to The Julliard School to study piano. Leung describes her mother as a strong-minded daughter of extreme privilege in Shanghai (and later, Taiwan) who immigrated by herself to the Bay Area in the 1950s, where she met and married Cynthia's father. He was the Palo Alto-born son of working-class immigrants who spoke Cantonese. Because her parents spoke different Chinese languages, they did not pass their languages down to their daughters. After graduating law school Leung cold-called some Las Vegas attorneys, who encouraged her to come to Las Vegas to practice. She discusses her work as a defense attorney before going to the City of Las Vegas as a prosecutor for nine years before she was appointed to the bench. Leung speaks of identity; discrimination and vigilance; alternative courts and mental illness; and the diversity, opportunity, and acceptance she has found in Las Vegas.