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This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations of additional sources. (March 2009) |
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Juan R. Torruella
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office 1984 |
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| Appointed by | Ronald Reagan |
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| Preceded by | (none) |
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| Born | June 7, 1933 |
| Nationality |  Puerto Rico |
| Alma mater | Boston University School of Law Wharton School of Business University of Puerto Rico Oxford University University of Virginia |
Juan R. Torruella (born June 7, 1933) is a Puerto Rican jurist, who currently serves as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He is the first and to date only Hispanic to serve in that court.
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Education
Torrruella holds a degree from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. He later received his law degree in 1957 from Boston University School of Law. Additionally, he holds Masters Degrees from the University of Virginia, the University of Puerto Rico, and Oxford University.
Legal career
Torruella began his career in private practice in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1959. In 1974, President Gerald Ford nominated Torruella to serve as a judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. In this court Torruella served as Chief Judge from 1982 to 1984.
In 1984, President Ronald Reagan elevated Judge Torruella to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. He was confirmed by the United States Senate that year and became the first Hispanic to serve in that court. He served as Chief Judge of the court from 1994 to 2001 replacing Chief Judge Stephen Breyer who was appointed an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Torruella has consistently been an advocate of Puerto Rican rights and dissented from a 2005 ruling that Puerto Ricans are properly denied a voice in the election of the President of the United States because Puerto Rico is not a State. On the bench, Torruella is considered to be a moderate. He has ruled in favor of abortion rights, including the First Circuit court's opinion in Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood.
Torruella is the author of the book The Supreme Court and Puerto Rico: The Doctrine of Separate and Unequal (University of Puerto Rico: 1988), a study of the Supreme Court's decisions in the Insular Cases.
On February 13, 2009, Torruella wrote the opinion on Alan S. Noonan v. Staples, Inc, a US court ruling that questioned whether truth is an absolute defense against libel.[1]
Publications
- The Supreme Court and Puerto Rico: The Doctrine of Separate and Unequal, Río Piedras: University of Puerto Rico, 1988, ISBN 0847730190
- "The Insular Cases: The Establishment of a Regime of Political Apartheid", University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law 29 (2): 284–320, 2007
References
- ^ Kennedy, Dan (February 17, 2009), "With malice aforethought", The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/feb/17/us-media-libel
External links
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by Stephen Breyer |
Chief Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit 1994–2001 |
Succeeded by Michael Boudin |
| Preceded by (none) |
Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit 1984–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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