Anabelle Rodríguez Rodríguez (born December 24, 1950) is a Puerto Rican

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, former state

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

, and former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. In December 2020 she reached the age of 70, at which point the Puerto Rico Constitution mandated her retirement from the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.

Early life and education

Rodríguez was born in 1950 in Santurce, Puerto Rico, and obtained a bachelor's degree in History, ''

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some So ...

'', from the

University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

. In 1985, she obtained a juris doctor ''magna cum laude'', from the

University of Puerto Rico School of Law The University of Puerto Rico School of Law is a law school in Puerto Rico. It is one of the professional graduate schools of University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus and the only law school in the University of Puerto Rico System. It ...

. She has two sons: Fernando Vela, a web developer based in Gainesville, Florida, and Ricardo Vela, a history teacher in White Plains, New York.

Career

Rodriguez held various positions in the Puerto Rican private and government sector. She began her career in law as Law Clerk to Superior Court Judge Angel G. Hermida. In 1997, she was nominated by Bill Clinton to be

U.S. District Court Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

for the

District of Puerto Rico The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico (in case citations, D.P.R.; es, Tribunal del Distrito de Puerto Rico) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The court is b ...

, but her nomination was rejected by the Senate Judiciary Committee three times. In 2001, she was appointed Secretary of Justice of Puerto Rico by Governor Sila Calderón. She worked to extend domestic violence protections to homosexual couples on the island. In 2004, Calderon appointed Rodriguez to the Supreme Court. She officially took office on August 19, 2004, becoming the third woman ever to serve in the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. In February 2016, she was acting Chief Justice of the Court prior to the swearing in of Maite Oronoz Rodríguez.

References

External links

Rodriguez biography at the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico website
- in Spanish. , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Anabelle 1950 births Associate justices of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico Living people Secretaries of Justice of Puerto Rico University of Puerto Rico alumni People from Santurce, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican judges