judge jacqueline nguyen confirmed to federal bench

Yesterday, the United States Senate unanimously confirmed Jacqueline H. Nguyen to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, making her the first Vietnamese American woman to serve on the federal bench: Senate Confirms Nation's First Vietnamese American Woman to Serve on the Federal Bench.

The Senate approved Judge Nguyen yesterday afternoon by a vote of 97-0. Judge Nguyen will also be the first Asian Pacific American female Article III judge in California history. Article III judgeships are lifetime presidential appointments.

Nguyen has been a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge since August 2002. Prior to her appointment to the Superior Court, she served in the U.S. Attorney’s office, in the Public Corruption and Government Fraud Sections, before serving as a deputy chief of the General Crimes Section.

Nguyen's family fled Vietnam in 1975 and eventually settled in La Crescenta, where she worked at her family's doughnut shop after school. She graduated from Occidental College in 1987 and got her law degree from UCLA. More here: US Senate approves first federal Vietnamese-American judge.