Jacqueline Nguyen

Jacqueline Nguyen

Nonpartisan

United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit

Tenure

2012 - Present

Years in position

12

Prior offices

United States District Court for the Central District of California

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Education

Bachelor's

Occidental College, 1987

Law

University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, 1991

Jacqueline Hong-Ngoc Nguyen is a federal judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. She joined the court in 2012 after being nominated by President Barack Obama. Nguyen previously served as a judge for the United States District Court for the Central District of California. She is the first Vietnamese-American woman to serve on the federal bench and the first Asian American woman to serve on a federal appellate court.

Early life and education

Judge Nguyen was born in South Vietnam. She fled from the country with her family in 1975 after the fall of the government. She earned her A.B. from Occidental College in 1987, and her J.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles School of Law in 1991.

Professional career

• 2012 - Present: Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
• 2009-2012: Judge, United States District Court for the Central District of California
• 2002-2009: Judge, Superior Court of Los Angeles County, California
• 1995-2002: U.S. Attorney's office, Central District of California

• 2000-2002: Deputy chief, general crimes division
• 1995-2002: Assistant U.S. attorney

• 1991-1994: Private practice, Los Angeles, Calif.

Judicial nominations and appointments

Possible 2016 SCOTUS nominee

See also: Process to fill the vacated seat of Justice Antonin Scalia

Prior to President Barack Obama's nomination of Merrick Garland, Nguyen was mentioned as a possible nominee to replace former United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who died on February 13, 2016.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: Jacqueline Nguyen
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
Progress
Confirmed 228 days after nomination.
ANominated: September 22, 2011
AABA Rating: Unanimously Qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
AHearing: November 2, 2011
QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more)
AReported: December 1, 2009
AConfirmed: May 7, 2012
AVote: 91-3

On September 22, 2011, President Obama nominated Jacqueline Nguyen for a new seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit created by 121 Stat. 2534.

Obama commented on the nomination, stating:

“

Judge Nguyen has been a trailblazer, displaying an outstanding commitment to public service throughout her career. I am honored to nominate her today for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals and confident she will serve the American people with fairness and integrity.

”

Nguyen was rated Unanimously Qualified for the nomination by the American Bar Association. Hearings on Nguyen's nomination were held before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on November 2, 2011, and her nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on December 1, 2011. Nguyen was confirmed on a recorded 91-3 vote of the United States Senate on May 7, 2012, and she received her commission on May 14, 2012.

Central District of California

Nomination Tracker
Nominee Information
Name: Jacqueline Nguyen
Court: United States District Court for the Central District of California
Progress
Confirmed 123 days after nomination.
ANominated: July 31, 2009
AABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
AHearing: September 23, 2009
QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more)
AReported: October 15, 2009
AConfirmed: December 1, 2009
AVote: 97-0

Nguyen was nominated by President Barack Obama on July 31, 2009, to the United States District Court for the Central District of California to a seat vacated by Judge Nora Manella, who resigned from federal judicial service. The American Bar Association rated Nguyen Unanimously Well Qualified for the nomination. Hearings on Nguyen's nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 23, 2009, and her nomination was reported by Sen. Leahy (D-Vt.) on October 15, 2009. Nguyen was confirmed on a recorded 97-0 vote of the U.S. Senate on December 1, 2009, and she received her commission on December 4, 2009. Nguyen resigned from the district court on May 15, 2012, upon her elevation to the Ninth Circuit. She was succeeded in this position by Judge Fernando Olguin.

Noteworthy cases

Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra (2019)

See also: United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Americans for Prosperity Foundation v. Becerra, 2:14-cv-09448-R-FFM)

On March 29, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit declined a request for en banc review of an earlier judgment upholding a California donor disclosure law. In an en banc review, the entire bench takes up the case, as opposed to the customary three-judge panel that typically hears appeals.

The law in question requires nonprofit organizations to file copies of their IRS 990 forms with the state. Schedule B of this form includes the names and addresses of all individuals who donate more than $5,000 to the organization in a given tax year. The California law requires that nonprofits furnish the state with Schedule B forms. Although the law does not provide for the public release of Schedule B information, court documents indicate inadvertent disclosures have occurred. Americans for Prosperity Foundation filed suit against the state in federal court, alleging a violation of their First Amendment rights. In 2016, Judge Manuel Real, appointed to the United States District Court for the Central District of California by President Lyndon Johnson (D), found in favor of the plaintiff and enjoined the state from collecting Schedule B information from Americans for Prosperity Foundation.

A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit unanimously overturned Real's ruling in 2018. That panel comprised Judges Raymond Fisher, Richard Paez, and Jacqueline Nguyen. Fisher and Paez were appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton (D); Nguyen was appointed by President Barack Obama (D). Americans for Prosperity Foundation petitioned the Ninth Circuit for en banc review. That petition was rejected on March 29, 2019, with five judges dissenting.

Judge Sandra Ikuta, appointed to the court by President George W. Bush (R), wrote the following in the dissent: “Under the panel’s analysis, the government can put the First Amendment associational rights of members and contributors at risk for a list of names it does not need, so long as it promises to do better in the future to avoid public disclosure of the names. Given the inability of governments to keep data secure, this standard puts anyone with controversial views at risk. We should have reheard this case en banc to reaffirm the vitality of NAACP v. Alabama’s protective doctrine, and to clarify that Buckley’s watered-down standard has no place outside of the electoral context." Judges Consuelo Maria Callahan, Carlos Bea, Mark J. Bennett, and Ryan D. Nelson joined the dissent. Callahan and Bea were appointed to the court by Bush; Bennett and Nelson were appointed by President Donald Trump (R).

Judges Fisher, Paez, and Nguyen wrote in response to the dissent, "Requiring the nonpublic disclosure of Schedule B information comports with the freedom of association protected by the First Amendment because it allows state and federal regulators to protect the public from fraud without exposing contributors to the threats, harassment or reprisals that might follow public disclosure."

Dave Abrams, a spokesman for Americans for Prosperity Foundation, said, "We’re assessing the order and reviewing options. We appreciate the dissent’s recognition of why this case is so important. We’re committed to championing First Amendment liberties for all Americans and speaking out against measures that risk chilling diverse public discourse."

Ninth Circuit upholds foie gras ban

See also: United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (Association des Eleveurs de Canards et d'Oies du Quebec et al. v. Xavier Becerra, No. 15-55192)

On September 15, 2017, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit upheld California's ban on the sale of products, including foie gras, from birds that are force-fed.

In 2004, California modified Section 25982 of the state's health and safety code to prohibit the sale of products made from force-fed birds. At the time of the policy's adoption, the state delayed enforcement for over seven-and-a-half years so that producers could find alternative methods for producing products from birds such as foie gras, an ingredient produced from fattened duck and goose livers, without force-feeding the birds, which tends to produce larger livers and higher yields than traditional feeding methods.

On July 2, 2012, one day after the policy took effect, various foie gras producers and restaurants filed a lawsuit in federal district court arguing that Section 25982 was preempted by a federal law, the Poultry Products Inspection Act (hereafter, PPIA). The PPIA prohibits states from imposing ingredient requirements that were either additional requirements or different requirements from what the PPIA required. The plaintiffs argued that Section 25982 imposed an ingredient requirement because the code required "that foie gras be made only from the livers of birds who were not force-fed." The plaintiffs further alleged that the code was preempted by Congress' exclusive governance in the field of poultry regulation (i.e. field preemption) and that the state code was an obstacle to both the accomplishment and execution of Congress' objectives in the PPIA (i.e. obstacle preemption).

Writing for the panel, Judge Jacqueline Nguyen rejected the plaintiffs' arguments. In rejecting the plaintiffs' claim that Section 25982 imposed an ingredient requirement in violation of the Poultry Products Inspection Act, Judge Nguyen stated that "Congress made clear that the PPIA's 'ingredient requirements' address the physical components of poultry products, not the way the animals are raised. ... The difference between foie gras produced with force-fed birds and foie gras produced with non-force-fed birds is not one of ingredient. Rather, the difference is in the treatment of the birds while alive."

Judge Nguyen also rejected both the field and obstacle preemption arguments, noting that the PPIA did not preclude states from making additional requirements consistent with the PPIA nor did California's code present an obstacle to any of Congress' or the U.S. Department of Agriculture's regulatory objectives related to poultry products.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit
• United States District Court for the Central District of California
• Ballotpedia News: Jacqueline Nguyen confirmed to Ninth Circuit, May 8, 2012

External links

• Judge Nguyen's Biography from the Federal Judicial Center.

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by -	United States Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit 2012-Present	Succeeded by -
Preceded by -	United States District Court for the Central District of California 2009-2012	Succeeded by -

Federal judges nominated by Barack Obama
Nominated	Federal judges nominated by Barack Obama