US President Joe Biden has nominated Indian American lawyer Sarala Vidya Nagala to fill one of the three vacant federal judgeships in the state district court of Connecticut.

If confirmed, Nagala would be the first judge of South Asian descent to serve the federal bench in the state.

The White House, in a statement, said the nomination is a continuation to fulfill President Biden's "promise to ensure that the nation's courts reflect the diversity that is one of the greatest assets as a country - both in terms of personal and professional backgrounds."

Nagala has served as the deputy chief of the Major Crimes Unit in the US Attorney's Office in the District of Connecticut since 2017, and has provided extensive results in a number of projects in the last few years, including as Hate Crimes Coordinator, the White House revealed.

Nagala earned her law degree from the University of California at Berkeley School of Law in 2008 and her BA from Stanford University in 2005. She started off 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. She then joined as programs manager at renowed law firm Munger, Tolles, & Olson in San Francisco, California, until 2012.

She joined the US Attorney's Office as an assistant attorney in 2012, and in 2016, she took over the position of deputy chief.

President Biden is well known for appointing people of merit to important positions, no matter their skin colour.

His vice-president Kamala Harris is also half Indian, while in April, another Biden appointee, Indian-American Vanita Gupta was appointed associate genetal of the United States - the first woman of colour to serve in this role.


Source: americankahani.com, courant.com
Photo source: americankahani.com