Who is Vanita Gupta, the newly confirmed associate attorney general of US?

Vanita Gupta, who was President Joe Biden’s nominee for the position of the associate attorney general of the United States, was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday after a close call vote of 51-49. 

Vanita Gupta graduated from Yale University and earned her law degree from the New York University School of Law. She later taught civil rights litigation at the school for some years.  

She started her career with NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Vanita consulted with European civil society organizations to work towards advancing the rights of the Roma. 

Currently, she is on a break from her duties of being CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. Gupta previously served as the chief civil rights prosecutor for the US and as Acting Assistant Attorney General, appointed by then-president Obama. 

Also Read: Vanita Gupta is ‘proud daughter’ of immigrants from India: Joe Biden

In the Obama administration, Vanita was meant to oversee civil enforcement and criminals to guarantee equal justice and safeguard equal opportunity for all. 

She also served as the Deputy Legal Director and the Director of the Center for Justice at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) earlier. 

She is married to the legal director of the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, Chinh Q. Le and has two sons. 

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While nominating Vanista, President Biden said, “At every step, with every case, she fought for greater equity and the right to right the wrongs of a justice system where they existed. That’s a rare achievement and it speaks volumes about her capacity to unite people in common purpose, which is what this is all about. Uniting the American people. Born in Philadelphia, a proud daughter of immigrants from India, does that sound familiar?”