Clemente Ruiz Nazario Courthouse, in Hato Rey, PR.

The United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico is the federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. 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 the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. Appeals from this court are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, which is headquartered in Boston but hears appeals at the Old San Juan courthouse for two sessions each year.

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court.

United States District Judges

There are seven authorized active judgeships in the Puerto Rico District Court. Seven active judges are currently sitting, together with four senior judges who may elect to supervise reduced caseloads.

Judges

U.S. Magistrate Judges Seal

United States Magistrate Judges

• Chief Magistrate Justo Arenas
• Magistrate Camille L. Velez-Rive
• Magistrate Bruce McGiverin
• Magistrate Marcos López

Former District Judges

• Hiram Rafael Cancio (1967-1974)
• Juan B. Fernández-Badillo (1967-1989)
• Jose Víctor Toledo (1970-1980)
• Hernan Gregorio Pesquera (1972-1982)
• Juan R. Torruella* (1974-1984)
• Gilberto Gierbolini-Ortíz (1980-2004)
• Héctor M. Laffitte (1983-2007)

This list does not include the Judges who served on the Court from 1900 to 1966, before it became an Article III court whose judges enjoy life tenure.

* Elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

External links

• Official Site

Reference

Guillermo A. Baralt, History of the Federal Court in Puerto Rico: 1899-1999 (2004) (also published in Spanish as Historia del Tribunal Federal de Puerto Rico)

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