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The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico (in
case citation Case citation is a system used by legal professionals to identify past court case decisions, either in series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a neutral style that identifies a decision regardless of where it is reported. Case ci ...
s, D.P.R.; es, Tribunal del Distrito de Puerto Rico) is the
federal district court 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 ...
whose jurisdiction comprises the Commonwealth of
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
. The court is based in San Juan. The main building is the
Clemente Ruiz Nazario Clemente Ruiz Nazario (November 23, 1896 in San Germán, Puerto Rico – December 25, 1969), was the first Puerto Rican appointed as District Judge to the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. Education and career Ruiz N ...
United States Courthouse located in the
Hato Rey Hato Rey is a former barrio located in the northwest part of the dissolved municipality of Río Piedras. It now stretches over three barrios, of the municipality of San Juan, Puerto Rico: Urban landscape Its name means "king's cattle farm" ( ...
district of San Juan. The magistrate judges are located in the adjacent Federico Degetau Federal Building, and several senior district judges hold court at the
Jose V. Toledo Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse The Jose V. Toledo Federal Building and United States Courthouse is a historic post office and courthouse located at Old San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is a courthouse for the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. It is also the ...
in
Old San Juan Old San Juan ( es, Viejo San Juan) is a historic district located at the "northwest triangle" of the Isleta de San Juan, islet of San Juan. Its area roughly correlates to the Ballajá, Old San Juan, Ballajá, Catedral, Old San Juan, Catedral, Ma ...
. The old courthouse also houses the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court United States bankruptcy courts are courts created under Article I of the United States Constitution. The current system of bankruptcy courts was created by the United States Congress in 1978, effective April 1, 1984. United States bankruptcy c ...
. Most appeals from this court are heard by 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 * ...
, which is headquartered in
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
but hears appeals at the Old San Juan courthouse for two sessions each year.
Patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
claims as well as claims against the U.S. government under the
Tucker Act The Tucker Act (March 3, 1887, ch. 359, , ) is a federal statute of the United States by which the United States government has waived its sovereign immunity with respect to certain lawsuits. The Tucker Act may be divided into the "Big" Tucker A ...
are appealed to the
Federal Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (in case citations, Fed. Cir. or C.A.F.C.) is a United States court of appeals that has special appellate jurisdiction over certain types of specialized cases in the U.S. federal court ...
. The current
United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal c ...
is
W. Stephen Muldrow William Stephen Muldrow (born June 15, 1964) is an American lawyer who serves as the United States attorney for the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. He was previously an assistant United States attorney for the Middl ...
.


Scope and relevance

The United States first established a federal court in Puerto Rico under the
Foraker Act The Foraker Act, , officially known as the Organic Act of 1900, is a United States federal law that established civilian (albeit limited popular) government on the island of Puerto Rico, which had recently become a possession of the United State ...
of 1900. This court was a territorial court, operating within what the Supreme Court would soon define in 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 unti ...
as an
unincorporated territory of the United States Territories of the United States are sub-national administrative divisions overseen by the federal government of the United States. The various American territories differ from the U.S. states and tribal reservations as they are not sover ...
. As such, the court was established under
Article IV Article Four may refer to the 4th article of any regulatory document, such as: * Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights * Article Four (political party), political party in Sicily, Italy * Article Four of the United States Constitu ...
rather than Article III of the
United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, in 1789. Originally comprising seven ar ...
. The
Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
discussed the nature of the court in ''
Balzac v. Porto Rico ''Balzac v. Porto Rico'', 258 U.S. 298 (1922), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that certain provisions of the U.S. Constitution did not apply to territories not incorporated into the union. It originated when Jes� ...
'', 258 U.S. 298 (1922). Because the court was a territorial court rather than a full-fledged District Court, its judges did not enjoy Article III protections such as
life tenure A life tenure or service during good behaviour is a term of office that lasts for the office holder's lifetime, unless the office holder is removed from office for cause under misbehaving in office, extraordinary circumstances or decides personall ...
. The District Court in Puerto Rico continued to be an Article IV court even after Puerto Rico attained its commonwealth status. However, in 1966, the U.S. Congress conferred life tenure on the federal judges of Puerto Rico, transforming the court into a full-fledged Article III district court with the same status as the other
United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...
s throughout the country.Public Law 89-571, 80 Stat. 764. The congressional report on the bill making this change described the change of status as being "appropriate in light of the court's caseload and the conferral of Commonwealth status on Puerto Rico," and also explained: :There is no reason why the U.S. District Judges for the District of Puerto Rico should not be placed in a position of parity as to tenure with all other Federal Judges throughout our judicial system. Moreover, federal litigants in Puerto Rico should not be denied the benefit of judges made independent by life tenure from the pressures of those who might influence his chances of reappointment, which benefits the Constitution guarantees to the litigants in all other Federal Courts. These judges in Puerto Rico have and will have the exacting same heavy responsibilities as all other Federal district judges and, therefore, they should have the same independence, security, and retirement benefits to which all other Federal district judges are entitled. See 1966 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2786-90; see also ''Examining Bd. of Engineers Architects and Surveyors v. Flores de Otero'', 426 U.S. 572, 595 n.26 (1976) ("The reason given for this awwas that the Federal District Court in Puerto Rico 'is in its jurisdiction, powers, and responsibilities the same as the U.S. district courts in the (several) states'."). This important change in the federal judicial structure of the island was implemented not as a request of the Commonwealth government, but rather at the repeated request of the Judicial Conference of the United States. See Senate Report No. 1504, 1966 U.S.C.C.A.N. 2786-90. No similar law has been passed for the three insular territories that still have Article IV status, though there have been calls from time to time that these judges also deserve the protection of life tenure.


Current judges

:


Vacancies and pending nominations


Former judges


Chief judges


Succession of seats


Article IV judges

Judges who served on the Court from 1900 to 1966, before it became an Article III court, were: *
William H. Holt William Henry Holt (November 29, 1842 – March 6, 1919) was the first judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, as established by the Foraker Act of 1900. Holt was appointed to this position by President of the ...
(1900–1904) * Charles F. McKenna (1904–1906) * Bernard Shandon Rodey (1906–1910) * John J. Jenkins (1910–1911) * Paul Charlton (1911–1913) * Peter J. Hamilton (1913–1921) * Arthur F. Odlin (1921–1925) * Ira K. Wells (1925–1933) * Robert A. Cooper (1933–1947) *
David Chávez David Chávez Jr. (November 12, 1897 – November 3, 1984) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico from 1947 to 1950, and as a justice of the New Mexico Supr ...
(1947–1950) * Thomas H. Roberts (1950–1952) *
Clemente Ruiz-Nazario Clemente Ruiz Nazario (November 23, 1896 in San Germán, Puerto Rico – December 25, 1969), was the first Puerto Rican appointed as District Judge to the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. Education and career Ruiz N ...
(1952–1966) * Hiram Rafael Cáncio (1965–1966) During this period, judges for the District of Puerto Rico were appointed by the president for 4-year terms until 1938, and thereafter for 8-year terms. The court statutorily comprised a single judge until 1961, when a second judgeship was authorized by Congress, although the position was not actually filled until 1965. Until the 1950s, when the District Court judgeship was vacant, when the judge was away from Puerto Rico, or when the court's docket became overly backlogged, sitting judges of the
Supreme Court of Puerto Rico The Supreme Court of Puerto Rico ( es, Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico) is the highest court of Puerto Rico, having judicial authority to interpret and decide questions of Puerto Rican law. The Court is analogous to one of the state supreme c ...
were designated to act as judges of the federal court. Judge Ruiz-Nazario, appointed by President
Harry Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
in 1952, was the first Puerto Rican to serve as a judge of Puerto Rico's federal court.


See also

*
Courts of the United States The courts of the United States are closely linked hierarchical systems of courts at the federal and state levels. The federal courts form the judicial branch of the US government and operate under the authority of the United States Constitution an ...
*
Federal tribunals in the United States Federal tribunals in the United States are those tribunals established by the federal government of the United States for the purpose of resolving disputes involving or arising under federal laws, including questions about the constitutionality ...
*
List of current United States district judges The following is a list of all current judges of the United States district and territorial courts. The list includes both "active" and "senior" judges, both of whom hear and decide cases. There are 89 districts in the 50 states, with a total ...
*
List of United States federal courthouses in Puerto Rico Following is a list of current and former courthouses of the United States federal court system located in Puerto Rico. Each entry indicates the name of the building along with an image, if available, its location and the jurisdiction it covers,For ...
*
United States District Court The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...


References

*
''CONSEJO DE SALUD PLAYA DE PONCE v. RULLAN.''
586 F.Supp.2d 22 (2008). CONSEJO DE SALUD PLAYA DE PONCE, et al., Plaintiffs v. Johnny RULLAN, Secretary of Health of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Defendant. Civil Nos. 06–1260(GAG), 06-1524(GAG). United States District Court, D. Puerto Rico. October 10, 2008. As Corrected November 10, 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
''Opinion and Order: Consejo de Salud de la Playa de Ponce vs. Johnny Rullan, Secretary of Health of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.''
Gustavo A. Gelpi. USDC, D of Puerto Rico. San Juan, PR. Civil Numbers 06-1260 (GAG) and 06-1524 (GAG) (Consolidated). 10 November 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2013. * Guillermo A. Baralt, ''History of the Federal Court in Puerto Rico: 1899–1999'' (2004) (Translated into English by Janis Palma, also published in Spanish as ''Historia del Tribunal Federal de Puerto Rico'')


External links


Official Site

''The Exclusion of Non-English-Speaking Jurors: Remedying a Century of Denial of the Sixth Amendment in the Federal Courts of Puerto Rico.''
Jasmine B. Gonzales Rose. Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Vol. 46. (2011) Pages 497–549. {{DEFAULTSORT:United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
1966 establishments in Puerto Rico Courthouses in Puerto Rico San Juan, Puerto Rico Courts and tribunals established in 1966