Last week, 79-year-old Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia unexpectedly passed away, leaving an empty spot on the bench of the United States' most powerful court.
While politicians and media outlets alike have been quick to reflect upon Scalia's legacy, President Barack Obama must now select a nominee to replace the jurist. During an especially tense election year, the stakes are high in this particular Supreme Court nomination.
The president has yet to make an official decision, however the New York Times recently compiled a list of potential Supreme Court nominees who could grace the bench, including Vietnamese-American judge Jacqueline Nguyen.
Nguyen, 51, left Vietnam at the age of 10, settling in California. She is currently a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and was confirmed by a 91-3 vote, according to Vox. Though, as a 2013 article in the New Yorker points out, she is relatively unknown outside of California, if nominated – and later appointed – she would become the first Asian-American Supreme Court Justice in the country's history.
Also on the Times' short list were high-profile politicians, lawyers and judges such as California attorney general Kamala D. Harris and Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey as well as US Court of Appeals judge Padmanabhan Srikanth Srinivasan, a favorite for the position, who was unanimously voted into his current federal post.
Meanwhile, Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung packed his bags and headed off to California this weekend ahead of the first-ever ASEAN Summit on US soil, reports Thanh Nien. The two-day gathering is expected to solidify ties between the United States and ASEAN nations and bolster the regional group's newly formed ASEAN Economic Community. Dung will travel with his squad, which includes Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh, Minister of Planning and Investment Bui Quang Vinh, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang, and Vietnam's ambassador to the United States, Pham Quang Vinh.
[Photo via Vox]
