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Joseph Rodriguez

Nonpartisan

Prior offices:

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

Years in office: 1998 - 2025

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Years in office: 1985 - 1998

Education

Bachelor's

LaSalle University, 1955

Law

Rutgers University Law, 1958

Personal

Birthplace

Camden, NJ

Joseph H. Rodriguez was afederal judge for theUnited States District Court for the District of New Jersey. He joined the court in 1985 after being nominated by PresidentRonald Reagan (R). He assumedsenior status on May 22, 1998, and retired from the court on October 20, 2025.^[1][2]

Early life and education

A native ofNew Jersey, Rodriguez graduated from LaSalle University with his bachelor's degree in 1955 and later graduated from Rutgers University School of Law with his Law degree in 1958.^[3]

Professional career

Rodriguez spent his entire pre-judicial legal career as a Private practice attorney licensed in the State of New Jersey from 1959 to 1982. In addition to his private practice work, Rodriguez served as Chairman of the New Jersey State Board of Higher Education from 1971 to 1973 and Chairman of the New Jersey State Commission of Investigation from 1974 to 1979. Rodriguez also worked as a Public advocate/public defender for the State of New Jersey from 1982 to 1985.

Judicial career

District of New Jersey

Rodriguez was nominated by PresidentRonald Reagan (R) on February 28, 1985, to a new seat created by 98 Stat. 333, which was approved by Congress. Rodriguez was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 3, 1985, on a senate vote and received commission onMay 10, 1985. Rodriguez later assumed senior status onMay 22, 1998. His service ended on October 20, 2025, upon his retirement. Rodriguez was succeeded in this position byFaith Hochberg.

See also

• United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

External links

• The Robing Room- Rate Judge Rodriguez
• Biography from theFederal Judicial Center

Footnotes

v • e Federal judges who have served theUnited States District Court for the District of New Jersey
Active judges	Chief Judge: Renee Bumb  •  Susan Wigenton  •  Madeline Arleo  •  Claire Cecchi  •  Esther Salas  •  Michael Shipp  •  Karen Williams (New Jersey)  •  Robert Kirsch  •  Brian R. Martinotti  •  Julien Xavier Neals  •  Zahid Quraishi  •  Christine O'Hearn  •  Evelyn Padin  •  Georgette Castner  •  Michael Farbiarz  •  Jamel Semper  •  Edward Kiel
Senior judges	Mary Cooper  •  Anne Thompson  •  Stanley Chesler  •  Katharine Hayden  •  William Martini  •  Peter Sheridan  •  Noel Hillman  •  Robert Kugler  •  Kevin McNulty  •
Magistrate judges	Tonianne Bongiovanni  •  Mark Falk  •  Ann Donio  •  Michael A. Hammer  •  Cathy L. Waldor  •  James B. Clark, III  •  Leda Dunn Wettre  •  Sharon King  •  Jessica Allen  •  Matthew Skahill  •  André Espinosa  •
Former Article III judges	Garrett Brown  •  Joel Pisano  •  Freda Wolfson  •  Harold Ackerman  •  Dennis Cavanaugh  •  Dickinson Debevoise  •  Joseph Greenaway  •  Faith Hochberg  •  Jose Linares  •  Stanley Brotman  •  Joseph Irenas  •  Joseph Rodriguez  •  Jerome Simandle  •  David Brearley  •  Robert Morris (New Jersey)  •  William Sanford Pennington  •  William Rossell  •  Mahlon Dickerson  •  Philemon Dickerson  •  Richard Stockton Field  •  John Thompson Nixon  •  Andrew Kirkpatrick  •  Leonard Garth  •  Robert Cowen  •  Maryanne Trump Barry  •  Lee Sarokin  •  Edward Green (New Jersey)  •  Joseph Cross  •  William Mershon Lanning  •  John Rellstab  •  Joseph Lamb Bodine  •  John Warren Davis (Third Circuit)  •  Thomas Griffith Haight  •  Charles Francis Lynch  •  William Nelson Runyon  •  William Clark (New Jersey)  •  Guy Laverne Fake  •  James William McCarthy  •  John Boyd Avis  •  Phillip Forman  •  Anthony Augelli  •  George Barlow  •  William Bassler  •  John Bissell  •  Vincent Biunno  •  Mitchell Cohen  •  James Coolahan  •  John Gerry  •  Richard Hartshorne  •  John Kitchen  •  Frederick Lacey  •  Arthur Lane  •  Alfred Lechner  •  John Lifland  •  Thomas Madden  •  Thomas Meaney  •  Henry Meanor  •  Alfred Modarelli  •  Mendon Morrill  •  Stephen Orlofsky  •  Nicholas Politan  •  Robert Shaw (New Jersey)  •  William Francis Smith  •  Herbert Stern  •  Thomas Walker (New Jersey)  •  Lawrence Whipple  •  Alfred Wolin  •  Reynier Wortendyke  •  Clarkson Sherman Fisher  •  John Michael Vazquez  •  William Walls (New Jersey)  •
Former Chief judges	Garrett Brown  •  Anne Thompson  •  Freda Wolfson  •  Jerome Simandle  •  Guy Laverne Fake  •  Phillip Forman  •  Anthony Augelli  •  George Barlow  •  John Bissell  •  Mitchell Cohen  •  James Coolahan  •  John Gerry  •  Thomas Madden  •  William Francis Smith  •  Lawrence Whipple  •  Clarkson Sherman Fisher  •

v • e Federal judges nominated byRonald Reagan
1981	Bartlett •Beam •Becker •Bork •Cacheris •Cardamone •Chapman •Coughenour •Cox •Crow •Cyr •Doumar •Eschbach •Forrester •Garwood •Gibson •Glasser •Hall •Hamilton •Head •Jones •Kiser •Krenzler •Lee •Magnuson •McLaughlin •Miner •Moore •Nowlin •O'Connor •Pierce •Posner •Potter •Russell •Ryan •Shabaz •Sprizzo •Stevens •Waters •Wilhoit •Wilkins •Winter
1982	Acker •Acosta •Altimari •Bell •Bissell •Black •Bullock •Caldwell •Coffey •Contie •Coyle •Dowd •Fagg •Fong •Fox •Gadbois •Gibson •Ginsburg •Hart •Higginbotham •Hogan •Irving •Jackson •Jolly •Kanne •Kovachevich •Krupansky •Lynch •Mansmann •McNamara •Mencer •Mentz •Mihm •Moody •Nordberg •Paul •Pieras •Plunkett •Porfilio •Potter •Pratt •Rafeedie •Restani •Roberts •Scalia •Selya •Telesca •Wellford
1983	Baldock •Barbour •Barry •Bowman •Carman •Carter •Curran •Davis •Dorsey •Feldman •Fish •Flaum •Gibbons •Hallanan •Harris •Hinojosa •Hull •Hupp •Katz •Keenan •Kelly •Kram •Laffitte •Limbaugh, Sr. •Limbaugh, Sr. •Milburn •Nesbitt •Nevas •O'Neill •Rymer •Sharp •Starr •Vinson •Vukasin •Wexler • Woods
1984	Barker •Beezer •Biggers •Billings •Bissell •Boyle •Brewster •Browning •DiCarlo •Duhe •Garcia •George •Hall •Hargrove •Higgins •Hill •Holland •Ideman •Jarvis •Keller •Leavy •Lee •Legge •Leisure •Little •Livaudais •Longobardi •McKibben •Milburn •Newman •Norgle •Prado •Rea •Rosenblatt •Rovner •Scirica •Smith, Jr. •Sneeden •Stotler •Suhrheinrich •Torruella •Wiggins •Wilkinson
1985	Alley •Altimari •Anderson •Aquilino •Archer •Arnold •Baldock •Batchelder •Battey •Broomfield •Brown •Brown •Brunetti •Buckley •Cobb •Conmy •Cowen •Davidson •Dimmick •Duff •Easterbrook •Edgar •Farnan •Fernandez •Fitzpatrick •Fuste •Greene •Gunn •Guy •Hall •Hilton •Holderman •Hughes •Johnson •Jones •Korman •Kozinski •La Plata •Leinenweber •Letts •Lovell •Ludwig •Maloney •Mansmann •Marcus •McDonald •Meredith •Miller •Mills •Miner •Motz •Nelson •Noonan •Porfilio •Revercomb •Rhoades •Ripple •Rodriguez •Rosenbaum •Roth •Ryan •Sam •Scott •Sentelle •Silberman •Sporkin •Stanton •Stapleton •Strand •Strom •Tacha •Tevrizian •Thompson •Todd •Tsoucalas •Walker •Walter •Weber •Williams •Wilson •Wingate •Wolf •Wollman •Young •Zloch
1986	Anderson •Boggs •Bryan •Cedarbaum •Cholakis •Conway •Davies •Dearie •Dubina •Duggan •Edmondson •Fawsett •Fitzwater •Gex •Graham •Hackett •Hansen •Henderson •Hittner •Howard •Jensen •Kay •Kleinfeld •Kosik •Lagueux •Lechner •Magill •Mahoney •Manion •McAvoy •McQuade •Norris •O'Scannlain •Rehnquist •Ryskamp •Scalia •Selya •Simpson •Smalkin •Spencer •Stiehl •Wilkins •Williams •Woodlock •Zatkoff
1987	Alesia •Beam •Bell •Conboy •Cowen •Cummings •Daronco •Doty •Dwyer •Ebel •Ellis •Gadola •Gawthrop •Greenberg •Harrington •Howard •Hoyt •Hutchinson •Kanne •Kelly •Larimer •Leavy •Lew •Marsh •Mayer •McKinney •Michel •Mukasey •Musgrave •Niemeyer •Parker •Phillips •Politan •Pro •Raggi •Reasoner •Reed •Scirica •Sentelle •Smith •Smith •Stadtmueller •Standish •Tinder •Torres •Trott •Turner •Van Antwerpen •Voorhees •Webb •Whipple •Wolin •Wolle •Wood •Zagel
1988	Arcara •Babcock •Brorby •Butler •Cambridge •Camp •Conlon •Cox •Dubois •Duhe •Ezra •Forester •Friedman •Garza •Hutton •Jordan •Kennedy •Lake •Lamberth •Lifland •Lozano •Marovich •Nygaard •Patterson •Schell •Smith •Smith •Tilley •Waldman •Zilly