Jacqueline Nguyen

Early life and education

Born Hong-Ngoc Thi Nguyen (Vietnamese: Nguyễn Thị Hồng Ngọc) in Da Lat, Vietnam, Nguyen moved to the United States when she was 10, after the fall of the Republic of Vietnam in 1975. The daughter of a South Vietnamese army major who had worked closely with U.S. intelligence officials, Nguyen moved with her family first to an army tent at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, where she lived for several months. They ultimately settled in the La Crescenta-Montrose area of Los Angeles. Her family later opened a doughnut shop in Glendale, California, where Nguyen worked throughout high school and college.

Nguyen earned her Artium Baccalaureus degree in English in 1987 from Occidental College. She then earned a Juris Doctor from UCLA School of Law in 1991.

Professional career

From 1991 until 1995, Nguyen worked in private law practice, specializing in civil litigation as a litigation associate at the firm Musick, Peeler & Garrett. In particular, she focused on commercial disputes, intellectual property and construction-defect cases. From 1995 until August 2002, Nguyen served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Central District of California. She joined the U.S. Attorney's office in its Public Corruption and Government Fraud section, overseeing United States Department of Defense fraud prosecutions. In her final years in the U.S. Attorney's office, Nguyen also held the role of Deputy Chief of the General Crimes section, training new prosecutors in the Central District. In August 2002, Nguyen was appointed by then-California Gov. Gray Davis to be a Superior Court of Los Angeles County judge. Nguyen became the first-ever Vietnamese-American woman appointed to the Los Angeles County Superior Court. She has been based in Alhambra, California.

Service on the United States District Court for the Central District of California

On July 31, 2009, President Obama nominated Nguyen to a seat on the United States District Court for the Central District of California, vacated when Nora Margaret Manella left the federal judiciary to join the California Courts of Appeal in 2006. Senator Dianne Feinstein had recommended Nguyen's nomination. On September 23, Nguyen appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which reported her nomination on October 15. On December 1, 2009, the United States Senate voted 97-0 to confirm Nguyen. On May 15, 2012, her service on the District Court terminated due to her elevation to the Court of Appeals.

Service on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

On September 22, 2011, Obama nominated Nguyen to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. The Senate confirmed Nguyen to the Ninth Circuit in a 91-3 vote on May 7, 2012, and she received her commission on May 14, 2012.

She is the first Asian-American female to serve as a federal appellate judge. She is also the first Vietnamese-American federal judge, and the first Asian-Pacific American female federal judge in California. In 2012, she was speculated to be a candidate for the Supreme Court.

In February 2016, The New York Times identified her as a potential nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia.

Personal

Nguyen's husband, Pio S. Kim, was also a federal prosecutor. He has since moved to private practice.