John Carbone Porfilio (born October 14, 1934) is an inactive
Senior United States circuit judge of the
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* District of Colorado
* District of Kansas
* Dist ...
and a former United States District Judge of the
United States District Court for the District of Colorado
The United States District Court for the District of Colorado (in case citations, D. Colo. or D. Col.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are ap ...
.
Education and career
Born John Carbone Porfilio in
Denver
Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
, his name was changed to John Porfilio Moore when his mother remarried and his step father adopted him.
Porfilio received a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...
degree from the
University of Denver
The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...
in 1956 and a
Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
from the
University of Denver College of Law
The Sturm College of Law ("Denver Law") is the professional graduate law school of the University of Denver. It is one of two law schools in the state of Colorado. Founded in 1892, the Sturm College of Law was one of the first in America's Mounta ...
in 1959. He was in private practice in Denver from 1959 to 1962. He was an assistant state attorney general of Colorado from 1962 to 1968. He was the Deputy Attorney General of Colorado from 1968 to 1972 under Attorney General
Duke Dunbar. In 1972, Dunbar died in office. Governor
John Love appointed Moore to the position of
Colorado Attorney General
The Attorney General of the State of Colorado is the chief legal officer for the U.S. state of Colorado and the head of the Colorado Department of Law, a principal department of the Colorado state government. It is an elected position with a four- ...
.
He served as Colorado Attorney General from 1972 until 1975.
In the 1974 general election,
Democratic candidate and former state legislator
J.D. MacFarlane defeated Moore for a full-term.
Federal judicial service
On January 15, 1975, Chief Judge
Alfred A. Arraj
Alfred Albert Arraj (September 1, 1906 – October 23, 1992) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.
Education and career
Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Arraj received a Bachelor of La ...
swore Moore into office as a
United States Bankruptcy Judge of the District of Colorado, filling a long vacant position due to a rise in bankruptcy filings.
[Doris G. Kaplan]
The Honorable John P. Moore, United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit
71 Denv. U.L. Rev. 33 (1993). He served in this position from 1975 to 1982.
On May 18, 1982, Porfilio was nominated by President
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
to a seat on the
United States District Court for the District of Colorado
The United States District Court for the District of Colorado (in case citations, D. Colo. or D. Col.) is a federal court in the Tenth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are ap ...
vacated by Judge
Fred M. Winner. Porfilio 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 June 24, 1982, and received his commission on June 25, 1982. Porfilio served in that capacity until May 13, 1985, due to elevation to the court of appeals.
On April 5, 1985, Reagan nominated Porfilio to a seat on the
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
The United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit (in case citations, 10th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:
* District of Colorado
* District of Kansas
* Dist ...
vacated by Judge
Robert Hugh McWilliams Jr. Porfilio was confirmed by the Senate on May 3, 1985, and received his commission on May 10, 1985. He assumed
senior status
Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...
on October 15, 1999.
On January 8, 1996, Porfillio legally changed his name back to his birth name.
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porfilio, John Carbone
1934 births
20th-century American judges
American people of Italian descent
Colorado Attorneys General
Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado
Living people
Lawyers from Denver
United States court of appeals judges appointed by Ronald Reagan
United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan
University of Denver alumni
Judges of the United States bankruptcy courts