Judge Michael Isaku Begert has served San Francisco as a Superior Court Judge since January 2011. He was chosen to build and lead San Francisco’s Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Court, created by Governor Newsom to help people with certain mental health disorders receive the support and care they need. Since 2019, he has presided over three treatment courts: Veterans Justice Court (VJC), Community Justice Court (CJC) and Drug Treatment Court. Before joining the bench in 2011, Judge Begert volunteered with numerous community-based and national agencies. He served on the board of directors for Asian Law Caucus, National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, Asian Americans Advancing Justice, and Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. Judge Begert is the youngest of five children to his immigrant Japanese mother and U.S. Air Force veteran father. Judge Begert was born on McChord Air Fort Base in Tacoma, Washington. He graduated from the University of Washington and earned his law degree from the University of Chicago Law School.