Ernest C. Torres (born 1941) is a former

United States district 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 ...

of the

United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island The United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island (in case citations, D.R.I.) is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the state of Rhode Island. The District Court was created in 1790 when Rhode Island ratified th ...

Education and career

Born in

New Bedford New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, Torres received an Artium Baccalaureus degree from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

in 1963 and a Juris Doctor from

Duke University School of Law Duke University School of Law (Duke Law School or Duke Law) is the law school of Duke University, a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. One of Duke's 10 schools and colleges, the School of Law is a constituent academic unit t ...

in 1968. He was in private practice in Providence,

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

, from 1968 to 1980. He was a member of the

Rhode Island House of Representatives The Rhode Island House of Representatives is the lower house of the Rhode Island General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Rhode Island, the upper house being the Rhode Island Senate. It is composed of 75 members, elected ...

from 1975 to 1980, serving as deputy minority leader from 1977 to 1980. He was an associate justice of the

Rhode Island Superior Court The Rhode Island Superior Court is the state trial court of general jurisdiction in Rhode Island. Jurisdiction The Superior Court has original jurisdiction in all felony proceedings, civil matters with an amount in controversy in excess of $10,000, ...

from 1980 to 1985. He was an assistant vice president in charge of national staff counsel, Aetna Life Insurance Company from 1985 to 1986. He was in private practice in Providence from 1986 to 1988.

Federal judicial service

Torres was nominated by President Ronald Reagan on June 22, 1987, to a seat on the

vacated by Judge

Bruce M. Selya Bruce Marshall Selya (born May 27, 1934) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and former chief judge of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review who is kn ...

. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on November 5, 1987, and received his commission on November 6, 1987. He served as Chief Judge from 1999 to 2006. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

on December 1, 2006, and retired June 1, 2011.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Torres, Ernest C. 1941 births Living people Politicians from New Bedford, Massachusetts Dartmouth College alumni Duke University School of Law alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives Justices of the Rhode Island Supreme Court United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan 20th-century American judges