It's official. LA County Superior Court Judge Jacqueline Nguyen will be the nation's first Vietnamese American woman to serve on the federal bench. She was confirmed unanimously Tuesday by the U.S. Senate.
Nguyen will become a member of the U.S. District Court in the Central District of California in downtown Los Angeles. She is a former assistant U.S. Attorney specializing in corruption and fraud.
"Judge Nguyen is a tested judge with a track record of success as both a judge and a federal prosecutor," Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said on the Senate floor.
Nguyen has been a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge since August 2002. As a U.S. Attorney, she served as deputy chief of the General Crimes section from 1995 until August 2002.
Nguyen received her undergraduate degree from Occidental College in 1987 and her law degree from the UCLA in 1991.
Nguyen was born in South Vietnam, the daughter of a South Vietnamese Army major who worked with U.S. intelligence agents. She joined her family in fleeing the nation after it was conquered by North Vietnam in 1975, and lived for several months in an Army tent at Camp Pendleton.
She was selected by a bipartisan advisory committee established by Feinstein and fellow California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, then appointed by President Barack Obama.
