District of Puerto Rico
First Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 7
Judges: 7
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief:Raúl Arias-Marxuach
Active judges:María Antongiorgi-Jordán,Raúl Arias-Marxuach,Silvia Carreno-Coll,Pedro A. Delgado Hernandez,Aida Delgado-Colon,Gina Méndez-Miró,Camille Vélez-Rivé Senior judges: Francisco Besosa,Daniel Dominguez,Jay Garcia-Gregory

TheUnited States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico is one of 94United States district courts. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to theUnited States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit based in downtownBoston at the John Joseph Moakley Federal Courthouse, but hears appeals at the Old San Juan courthouse for two sessions each year.

Vacancies

See also:Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no current vacancies on theUnited States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, out of the court's seven judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.

Active judges

Article III judges

Active Article III judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of active judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democratic appointed: 4
• Republican appointed: 3

Senior judges

Senior judges by appointing political party

The list below displays the number of senior judges by the party of the appointing president. It does not reflect how a judge may rule on specific cases or their own political preferences.

• Democratic appointed: 2
• Republican appointed: 1

Magistrate judges

Federal magistrate judges are federal judges who serve inUnited States district courts, but they are not appointed by the president and they do not serve life terms. Magistrate judges are assigned duties by the district judges in the district in which they serve. They may preside over most phases of federal proceedings, except for criminal felony trials. The specific duties of a magistrate judge vary from district to district, but the responsibilities always include handling matters that would otherwise be on the dockets of the district judges. Full-time magistrate judges serve for renewable terms of eight years. Some federal district courts have part-time magistrate judges, who serve for renewable terms of four years.^[1]

Former chief judges

In order to qualify for the office ofchief judge in an Article III circuit or district court, or on theUnited States Court of International Trade, a judge must be in active service and hold seniority over the court's commissioned judges who are 64 years of age or under, have served one year or more, and have not previously served as chief judge.^[2]

In the event that no judge on the court meets those qualifications, the youngest judge in regular active service aged 65 years or more and who has served as a judge for one year or more shall become chief judge. If no judge meets those qualifications, the judge holding seniority in active service who has not served as chief before shall become the chief judge.^[3][4][5]

The chief judge serves for a term of seven years until another judge becomes eligible to serve in the position. No judge is permitted to serve as chief judge after reaching the age of 70 years unless no other judge is qualified to serve.^[3][4][5]

Unlike the chief justice of the United States, a chief judge returns to active service after the expiration of their term and does not create a vacancy on the court by the fact of their promotion.^[2][3][4][5]

On theUnited States Court of Federal Claims, the chief judge is selected by thepresident of the United States. The judge must be less than 70 years of age. A chief may serve until they reach age 70 or until another judge is designated by the president as the new chief judge. If the president selects a new chief judge, the former chief judge may continue active service on the court for the remainder of their appointed term.^[6]

Former judges

For more information on the judges of the District of Puerto Rico, seeformer federal judges of the District of Puerto Rico.

Jurisdiction

The Municipalities of Puerto Rico (click for larger map)

The District of Puerto Rico hasoriginal jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

The jurisdiction of the District of Puerto Rico consists of all the municipalities in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The court is based in San Juan, with the main building being the Clemente Ruiz Nazario U.S. Courthouse located in the Hato Rey district of San Juan.

Caseloads

This section contains court management statistics dating back to 2010. It was last updated in September 2025.Click[show] below for more information on caseload terms and definitions.

History

Court history

The District of Puerto Rico was established by Congress in1900 with one judge appointed to a four-year term. In1915, the court was assigned to theFirst Circuit and in1938 the judge's term of office was increased to 8 years. Then inSeptember 12, 1966, the judgeships were made lifetime positions and the court was elevated to the same status as other United States District Courts. Over time six additional judicial posts were added for a total of seven current posts.^[7]

Judicial posts

Prior to 1966, all appointments to the court were considered Article I appointments, which did not carry life tenures. After 1966, the appointments were considered Article III appointments and carried lifetime terms. The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the District of Puerto Rico:^[7]

Noteworthy cases

For a searchable list of opinions, please seeOpinions of the District of Puerto Rico.{{Notable case format|Level = Court|Title = Police Chief prohibition case|Case Link = |Case name = |Case number = U|Judge =Arthur Fuller Odlin|Court=United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico|Text = Judge Odlin was the first judge for theDistrict of Puerto Rico to preside over a major corruption case within the territory's police department. The police department acquired information concerning an investigation occurring which accused the police department and other top government officials of flagrant violations of the prohibition laws preventing the sale and consumption of alcohol across the U.S.. As the trial date approached, Judge Odlin ordered police chief Colonel George Shanton to surrender the evidence against the department and public officials. Shanton wrote to Judge Odlin and requested an exemption from the order as he had already "disposed" of the evidence. He was held in contempt of court, arrested for two days and immediately fired.^[8]

{{Notable case format|Level = Court|Title = Puerto Rican right to vote|Case Link =http://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15256883679941019692&q=Igartua+de+la+Rosa+v.+United+States&hl=en&as_sdt=2,33%7CCase name =Igartua de la Rosa v. United States|Case number = 107 F. Supp. 2d 140(D.P.R. 2000)|Judge=Jaime Pieras|Court=United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico|Text = In this case, Judge Pieras established the right of Puerto Ricans to vote for the President of the United States. Pieras used his opinion to highlight what he felt were glaring civil rights violations based on Puerto Rico's status within the United States. The ruling was later overturned at the appellate level.^[9]

Federal courthouse

The court is based in San Juan. The main building is the Clemente Ruiz Nazario U.S. Courthouse located in the Hato Rey 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 old courthouse in Old San Juan. The old courthouse also houses theU.S. Bankruptcy Court.

About United States District Courts

TheUnited States district courts are the generaltrial courts of theUnited States federal courts. There are 94 such courts. Bothcivil andcriminal cases are filed in the district court, which is a court of both law and equity.

There is aUnited States bankruptcy court and a number ofbankruptcy judges associated with each United States district court. Eachfederal judicial district has at least one courthouse, and most districts have more than one.

There is at least one judicial district for each state, and one each for Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. District courts in three insular areas—the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands—exercise the same jurisdiction as U.S. district courts. Despite their name, these courts are technically not District Courts of the United States. Judges on theseterritorial courts do not enjoy the protections ofArticle III of the Constitution, and serve terms of 10 years rather than for life.

There are677 U.S. District Court judgeships.^[10][11]

The number of federal district judge positions is set by the U.S. Congress in Title 28 of the U.S. Code, Section 133, which authorizes a set number of judge positions, or judgeships, making changes and adjustments in these numbers from time to time.

In order to relieve the pressure of trying the hundreds of thousands of cases brought before the federal district courts each year, many trials are tried by juries, along with a presiding judge.^[12]

Appointments by president

The chart below shows the number of district court judges confirmed by the U.S. Senate through November 1 of the first year of presidents' second term in office. At this point in the term, President Obama had the most district court appointments with 25.

Judges by district

See also:Judicial vacancies in federal courts

The table below displays the number of judges in each district and indicates how many were appointed by presidents from each major political party. It also includes the number of vacancies in a district and how many pending nominations for that district are before theUnited States Senate. The table can be sorted by clicking the column headers above the line, and you can navigate through the pages by clicking the arrows at the top of the table. It is updated every Monday.

Judicial selection

The district courts are served byArticle III federal judges who are appointed for life during "good behavior." They are usually first recommended by senators (or members of the House, occasionally). The President of the United States makes the appointments, which must then be confirmed by the U.S. Senate in accordance withArticle III of the United States Constitution.^[11]

Step	A Candidacy Proceeds	A Candidacy Halts
1. Recommendation made by Congress Member to the President	President Nominates toSenate Judiciary Committee	President Declines Nomination
2. Senate Judiciary Committee interviews Candidate	Sends candidate to Senate for confirmation	Returns candidate to President, who may re-nominate to Committee
3. Senate votes on candidate confirmation	Candidate becomes federal judge	Candidate does not receive judgeship

Magistrate judges

The district courts are also served by magistrate judges. Congress created the judicial office offederal magistrate in 1968. In 1990, the position title was changed tomagistrate judge. The chief judge of each district appoints one or more magistrate judges, who discharge many of the ancillary duties of district judges so judges can handle more trials. There are both full-time and part-time magistrate judge positions, and these positions are assigned to the district courts according to caseload criteria (subject to funding by Congress). A full-time magistrate judge serves a term of eight years; a part-time magistrate judge's term of office is four years.^[13]

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the 1st Circuit
• District of Maine
• District of Massachusetts
• District of New Hampshire
• District of Puerto Rico
• District of Rhode Island

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Official Site

Footnotes

v • e Federal judges who have served theUnited States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
Active judges	Chief Judge: Raúl Arias-Marxuach  •  Aida Delgado-Colon  •  Silvia Carreno-Coll  •  Pedro A. Delgado Hernández  •  María Antongiorgi-Jordán  •  Gina Méndez-Miró  •  Camille Vélez-Rivé
Senior judges	Daniel Dominguez (Puerto Rico)  •  Jay Garcia-Gregory  •  Francisco Besosa  •
Magistrate judges	Bruce McGiverin  •  Marcos Lopez-Gonzalez  •  Giselle Lopez Soler  •  Marshal Morgan  •
Former Article III judges	Jose Fuste  •  Jaime Pieras  •  Raymond Acosta (Puerto Rico)  •  Salvador Casellas  •  Carmen Cerezo  •  Gustavo Gelpí  •  Juan Torruella  •  Hiram Cancio  •  Juan Fernandez-Badillo  •  Gilberto Gierbolini-Ortiz  •  Hector Laffitte  •  Juan Perez-Gimenez  •  Hernan Pesquera  •  Jose Toledo  •  William Henry Holt  •  Charles Francis McKenna  •  Bernard Shandon Rodey  •  John James Jenkins  •  Paul Charlton  •  Peter Joseph Hamilton  •  Arthur Fuller Odlin  •  Ira Kent Wells  •  Robert Archer Cooper  •  David Chavez Jr.  •  Thomas Hagan Roberts  •  Clemente Ruiz Nazario  •
Former Chief judges	Jose Fuste  •  Carmen Cerezo  •  Gustavo Gelpí  •  Juan Torruella  •  Hiram Cancio  •  Gilberto Gierbolini-Ortiz  •  Hector Laffitte  •  Juan Perez-Gimenez  •  Hernan Pesquera  •  Jose Toledo  •