Indian-American civil rights attorney would be first judge of South Asian descent on Connecticut District Court.
President Joe Biden has nominated Indian American civil rights attorney, Sarala Vidya Nagala to be US District Judge for the District of Connecticut, as part of the 4th slate of his judicial nominations.
If confirmed, Nagala would be the first judge of South Asian descent to serve on the District Court for the District of Connecticut, the White House noted in its announcement Tuesday.
Ngala’s nomination came along with four other new candidates for the federal bench and two new candidates for District of Columbia courts as Biden “continues to move at an historic pace with respect to judicial nominees,” it said.
All the nominees “are extraordinarily qualified, experienced, and devoted to the rule of law and our Constitution,” the White House said.
Read: List of Indian Americans in the Biden administration (January 2, 2021)
“These choices also continue to fulfill the President’s promise to ensure that the nation’s courts reflect the diversity that is one of our greatest assets as a country — both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds,” it added.
Nagala is currently the Deputy Chief of the Major Crimes Unit in the US Attorney’s Office in the District of Connecticut, a role she has held since 2017.
Nagala joined the US Attorney’s Office in 2012, and has served in a number of leadership roles in the office, including as Hate Crimes Coordinator.
Previously, Nagala was an associate at Munger, Tolles, & Olson in San Francisco, California from 2009 to 2012. She began her legal career as a law clerk for Judge Susan Graber on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit from 2008 to 2009.
Nagala received her JD from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law in 2008 and her BA from Stanford University in 2005.
“President Biden has spent decades committed to strengthening the federal bench, which is why he continues to move at an unparalleled speed with respect to judicial nominations,” the White House said.
“His first judicial nominations announcement was made faster than that of any new President in modern American history, and today’s announcement continues that trend,” it said.