Upon graduating from law school, Du was admitted to the bar in Nevada in 1994 and in California in 1995. Du's nomination and confirmation were strongly supported by Nevada's two U.S. senators,
Harry Reid (Democrat) and
Dean Heller (Republican), as well as the
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. Her confirmation was opposed by some Republican senators, who viewed her as too inexperienced and cited a sanction against her in 2007 by a Nevada federal court. On March 28, 2012, Du's nomination was confirmed by a 59–39 vote. She received her commission two days later. She became chief judge of the court on September 2, 2019, after Judge
Gloria Navarro finished her term as chief judge. Her term as chief judge ended in September or October 2024. Du is part of the court's Patent Pilot Program, In February 2020, a Nevada prison inmate was sentenced to four years in prison for making threats of violence against Du. In April and May 2020, Du twice rejected requests made by the right-wing group
True the Vote and Nevada Right to Life seeking to cancel Nevada's
mostly all-mail primary elections, which was put in place by
Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske because in-person voting risked
spreading COVID-19. Du held that the groups lacked standing to seek to block an all-mail election and that "Defendants' interests in protecting the health and safety of Nevada's voters and to safeguard the voting franchise in light of the COVID-19 pandemic far outweigh any burden on Plaintiffs'
right to vote, particularly when that burden is premised on a speculative claim of voter fraud resulting in dilution of votes." Du therefore extended the deadline to August 2020. Du held that the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate imminent,
irreparable harm, a prerequisite for obtaining a preliminary injunction. In 2020, Du sided with the
U.S. Forest Service and conservationists in upholding the Forest Service's power to prohibit
off-roading within a "buffer area" in the
Mono Basin along the California-Nevada border for a three-month period, to protect the greater sage grouse
mating grounds. The Sierra Trail Dogs Motorcycle and Recreation Club sued the Forest Service over the rule, which forced the postponement of the club's annual
dirt bike race; Du held that under the
National Environmental Policy Act, the Forest Service's prohibition was a minor variation of the previously issued
environmental impact statement, and therefore the agency was not required to conduct a supplemental environmental review. Du found that an injunction was unwarranted because Nevada "cannot demonstrate the likelihood of irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary injunctive relief or that the balance of hardships tips in its favor".
Criminal law decisions In 2015, Du granted the
habeas petition of Jose Echavarria, a death row inmate convicted of killing an FBI agent during a
bank robbery in 1991. Echavarria's attorneys argued that his trial was unfair because the presiding judge was also being investigated by the FBI – a fact the
defense did not learn until after the trial ended. Du agreed and ruled that Echavarria was entitled to a new trial. Du's ruling was upheld by the
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Du also presided over the criminal case against a doctor and hospital executive from
Winnemucca in rural Nevada who illegally wrote prescriptions for
opioids without a medical purpose. The executive pleaded guilty to distribution of a
controlled substance; Du sentenced him to a
year and a day in federal prison, a $125,000 fine, and three years of supervised release.
Other notable decisions Du was assigned to preside over
Walden v. State of Nevada ex rel. Nevada Department of Corrections, a major employment suit brought by several hundred Nevada state prison guards against the state. The guards allege that they are entitled to payment for tasks (such as debriefings, equipment collection, and uniform inspections) completed just before their shifts officially begin. In dismissing the suit, Du wrote: "While the Court empathizes with Plaintiffs for their
lived experiences, the Court cannot adjudicate Plaintiffs' claims because Plaintiffs fail to establish
standing to confer jurisdiction upon this Court." In September 2020, Du ruled that
Tesla, Inc. could not be sued for defamation after falsely alleging to several news outlets that a former employee, Martin Tripp, may "come back and shoot people" at Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada. In the same ruling, Du refused to dismiss Tesla's suit against Tripp for leaking a Tesla document. ==See also==