Nguyen v. United States

Summary

The Court vacates and remands convictions where the Court of Appeals panel included a non-Article III judge from the Northern Mariana Islands. It holds 28 U.S.C. § 292(a) authorizes only Article III district judges, so the panel's composition lacked statutory authority. Justice Rehnquist, dissenting, argues Rule 52(b) plain error review should apply and the error did not impair fairness or integrity.