Gustavo Antonio Gelpí Jr. (born December 11, 1965) is an American lawyer who serves as a United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (in case citations, 1st Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts: * District of Maine * District of Massachusetts ...

. He is a former chief United States district judge of the

United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico (in case citations, D.P.R.; ) is the United States district court, federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The court is based in San ...

Early life and career

Born in 1965, in

San Juan, Puerto Rico San Juan ( , ; Spanish for "Saint John the Baptist, John") is the capital city and most populous Municipalities of Puerto Rico, municipality in the Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the ...

, Gelpí attended high school at Academia del Perpetuo Socorro. He received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

in 1987 and a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Suffolk University Law School Suffolk University Law School (also known as Suffolk Law School) is the Private university, private, non-sectarian law school of Suffolk University located in Downtown Boston, downtown Boston, across the street from the Boston Common and the Fr ...

Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in 1991. He was a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

to Juan Pérez-Giménez of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico from 1991 to 1993. Gelpí was then an assistant federal

public defender A public defender is a lawyer appointed to represent people who otherwise cannot reasonably afford to hire a lawyer to defend themselves in a trial. Several countries provide people with public defenders, including the UK, Belgium, Hungary and Si ...

in the office of the

federal public defender In the United States, federal Public defender (United States), public defender organizations are entities in the Federal government of the United States, United States Federal Government, and their staffs are federal employees. Federal public defe ...

from 1993 to 1997. He worked in Puerto Rico's Department of Justice from 1997 to 1999, first as an assistant to the attorney general, and then as assistant attorney general for the office of legal counsel. During Puerto Rico Governor

Pedro Rosselló Pedro Juan Rosselló González (; born April 5, 1944) is a Puerto Rican physician and politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1993 to 2001. He was President of the New Progressive Party from 1991 to 1999 and 2003 to 2008, an ...

's second term, Gelpí served as Puerto Rico's Solicitor General from 1999 to 2000. He was a special litigation counsel in the

law firm A law firm is a business entity formed by one or more lawyers to engage in the practice of law. The primary service rendered by a law firm is to advise consumer, clients (individuals or corporations) about their legal rights and Obligation, respon ...

of McConnell Valdes from January to June in 2001.

Federal judicial service

United States magistrate judge service

Gelpí served as a

United States magistrate judge In United States federal courts, magistrate judges are judges appointed to assist U.S. district court judges in the performance of their duties. Magistrate judges generally oversee first appearances of criminal defendants, set bail, and conduct ...

of the

from 2001 to 2006.

District court service

On April 24, 2006, President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

nominated Gelpí to a seat on the District of Puerto Rico vacated by Hector M. Laffitte, who assumed senior status on November 15, 2005. Gelpí was confirmed by

voice vote In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin ''viva voce'', meaning "by live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by respondin ...

on July 20, 2006, and received his judicial commission on August 1, 2006. He served as Chief Judge from April 13, 2018, to October 20, 2021. His service as a district court judge was terminated on October 20, 2021, when he was elevated to the court of appeals. In 2013, Gelpi began serving a term as the president of the

Federal Bar Association The Federal Bar Association (FBA) is the primary voluntary professional organization for private and government lawyers and judges practicing and sitting in federal courts in the United States. Six times a year, the FBA prints ''The Federal Lawye ...

Court of appeals service

On May 12, 2021, President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

nominated Gelpí to be a United States circuit judge for the First Circuit, to the seat vacated by Judge Juan R. Torruella, who died on October 26, 2020. On June 23, 2021, a hearing on his nomination was held before the

Senate Judiciary Committee The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally known as the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the United States Departm ...

. During his confirmation hearing, Republican senators criticized Gelpí over his critique of the

insular cases The Insular Cases are a series of opinions by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1901 about the status of U.S. territories acquired in the Spanish–American War. Some scholars also include cases regarding territorial status decided up unt ...

that established Puerto Rico's rights. On July 22, 2021, his nomination was reported out of committee by a 12–10 vote. On October 7, 2021, Majority Leader

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from New York (state), New York, a seat he has held since 1999. ...

filed

cloture Cloture (, ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. is ...

on his nomination. Later that day, the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

invoked cloture on his nomination by a 54–39 vote. On October 18, 2021, Gelpí was confirmed by a 52–41 vote. He received his judicial commission on October 19, 2021. He is the second judge of Hispanic origin to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the second judge from Puerto Rico ever to sit on the First Circuit.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gelpi, Gustavo Antonio Jr. 1965 births Living people 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers Brandeis University alumni Hispanic and Latino American judges Hispanic and Latino American lawyers Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico Lawyers from San Juan, Puerto Rico Public defenders Puerto Rican judges Suffolk University Law School alumni United States court of appeals judges appointed by Joe Biden United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush United States magistrate judges University of Puerto Rico faculty