José Antonio Andreu García (September 18, 1937 – January 10, 2019) was a Puerto Rican

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...

who served as the 13th

chief justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico The chief justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico () is the Chief Justice, presiding officer of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. The post of chief justice was created by Article V of Constitution of Puerto Rico, Article V of the Constitution ...

from 1992 to 2003. He was known for his moderate approach to

constitutional law Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...

Career and education

Andreu received his bachelor's degree in 1958 in

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

from the

University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

and his law degree in 1961 from the

University of Puerto Rico School of Law The University of Puerto Rico School of Law is the law school of the University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras, the only law school in the University of Puerto Rico System and the only public law school in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1913 at ...

. From 1963 to 1973 he held the position of District Judge, Assistant District Attorney, District Attorney and Superior Court Judge. After privately practicing law for 19 years, in 1990 Governor

Rafael Hernández Colón Rafael Hernández Colón (October 24, 1936 – May 2, 2019) was a Puerto Rican politician who served as the governor of Puerto Rico from 1973 to 1977 and 1985 to 1993 for a total of three terms. An experienced politician, Hernández held the ...

appointed Andreu to fill a vacancy as Associate Justice in the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico. Eighteen months later he was elevated to the position of Chief Justice after the retirement of Chief Justice Víctor Pons. Chief Justice Andreu had a brief dispute with 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 ...

in 1997 when Rosselló decided to have Associate Justice

Baltasar Corrada del Río Baltasar Corrada del Río (April 10, 1935 – March 11, 2018) was a Puerto Rican politician. He held various high political offices in the island, including President of the Puerto Rico Civil Rights Commission, Resident Commissioner (1977–198 ...

deliver the oath of office to him during his second inauguration. Andreu publicly said this break with tradition was unnecessary. After eleven years at the helm of the court, Andreu decided to resign in 2003 during the governorship of

Sila Calderón Sila may refer to : Places * Sila Region, Chad ** Sila Department, Chad, part of Sila Region * La Sila, a mountainous area of Calabria, Italy ** Sila National Park * Sila, Numidia, a former ancient city and bishopric, now Bordj-El-Ksar in Alge ...

. Calderón initially appointed Secretary of State

Ferdinand Mercado Ferdinand Mercado Ramos (born June 18, 1957) is a former Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of State under Governor Sila Calderón from 2001 until 2004. His government service ended after Gov. Calderón appointed him as Chief Justice of ...

to succeed Andreu but he was rejected by the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. Eventually, Andreu was replaced by his colleague Associate Justice Miriam Naveira. After his retirement from the court Andreu returned to private practice. He died from lymphoma on January 10, 2019, at his home in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

, at age 81.

External links

Bio at Supreme Court Site

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Andreu Garcia, Jose 1937 births 2019 deaths Chief justices of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico Deaths from lymphoma in Florida People from Río Piedras, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican judges University of Puerto Rico alumni 20th-century American judges