Federico Hernández Denton (born April 12, 1944
Santurce, Puerto Rico) was the 15th
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.
Biography
Hernández Denton received a Bachelor of Arts from
Harvard College in 1966 and a Juris Doctor from
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States.
Each class ...
in 1969.
After being admitted to practice law in Puerto Rico, he began a career in public service, serving as general counsel to the president of the
University of Puerto Rico, as well as occupying various faculty and administrative positions in the university's school of business. From 1973 to 1977 he served as secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Consumer Affairs of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
Before being nominated to the Supreme Court, Chief Justice Hernández Denton served on the governing boards of the Puerto Rico Bar Association, the Puerto Rico Legal Services Corporation and the San Juan Community Legal Services Corporation. From 1977 to 1985 he was a professor at the
Interamerican University of Puerto Rico School of Law
The Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Faculty of Law ( es, links=no, Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico) is the school of law of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, a private co-educational corpor ...
, where he was also director of the Legal Aid Clinic and served as dean from 1984 to 1985. He is also the author of numerous articles that have been published in various
law reviews and journals.
Hernández Denton was appointed associate justice of the Puerto Rico Supreme Court in 1985 by Puerto Rico Governor
Rafael Hernández Colón, a position he held until being sworn in as chief justice on August 9, 2004, after being nominated by Governor
Sila M. Calderón
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* Silla, one of the three kingdoms of ancient Korea
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and confirmed by the Puerto Rico Senate.
Chief Justice Hernández Denton is the chairperson of the Board of Bar Examiners of Puerto Rico and the president of the Commission of Judicial Evaluation. As chief justice, he presided the Constitutional Board that was responsible for redistricting the Puerto Rico Senate and House of Representatives in light of the 2010 Census results.
In 2007, he was elected to the board of the
Conference of Chief Justices. Chief Justice Hernández Denton is also a member of the American Bar Association, the Iberoamerican Summit of Chief Justices and of the Conference of Constitutional Courts of Latin America and Spain, and an elected member of the American Law Institute. He recently received a Doctor of Law Honoris Causa from the
Roger Williams University School of Law in Bristol, Rhode Island.
His tenure in the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ended with his retirement on April 12, 2014, his 70th birthday.
See also
*
List of Hispanic/Latino American jurists
This is a list of Hispanic/Latino Americans who are or were judges, magistrate judges, court commissioners, or administrative law judges. If known, it will be listed if a judge has served on multiple courts.
Other topics of interest
* List ...
*
List of Puerto Ricans
External links
Hernández Denton biography at the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico website – in
Spanish.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez Denton, Federico
1944 births
Living people
Chief Justices of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico
Harvard College alumni
Harvard Law School alumni
Hispanic and Latino American judges
Deans of law schools in the United States
People from Santurce, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rican judges
Secretaries of Consumer Affairs of Puerto Rico
University of Puerto Rico faculty