A publication of the Federal Bar Association, Hon. Raymond L. Acosta Puerto Rico Chapter SUMMER 2016 ISSUE NO. 57 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL ISSUE IN THIS ISSUE Anniversary Message from the Chief Judge of the From Cardstock to Paperless: 50 Years of Evolution • 26 U.S. District Court • 3 Trial by Jury • 31 The History of the U.S. District Court for the District of The U.S. Probation and Pretrial Office: District of Puerto Rico as an Article III Court Over Five Decades • 6 Puerto Rico • 33 Historical Development of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court Did You Know Answers • 36 for the District of Puerto Rico • 18 Magistrate Judges in the District of Puerto Rico: A History of Service • 21 IN EVERY ISSUE: A Legislative History of the District of Puerto Rico Message from the Editor • 2 Article III Court • 24 The Federal Bar Association Hon. Raymond L. Acosta Puerto Rico Chapter MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR Luz C. Molinelli-González With this issue we commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the District of Puerto Rico Article III Court. In honor of this event, we look back to the Court’s history as well as its current and future projects. As you may already know, the Hon. Raymond L. Acosta PR Chapter of the Federal Bar Association– BOARD OF DIRECTORS Puerto Rico Chapter (previously the Antilles Chapter of the FBA) was President founded only one year after President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Public Salvador J. Antonetti Stutts Law 89-571. Since its inception, our Chapter has been blessed with the President Elect continued support from the federal judiciary, its judges, magistrates, Mariano A. Mier Romeu clerks and bar members. Today we celebrate them. Vice President In this issue you will find articles about the historical development of José L. Ramírez Coll the USDC-PR, the USBC-PR, the magistrate judge system; a look into jury trials; and the evolution of the Clerk’s Office during the last 50 Secretary Héctor L. Ramos Vega years. Treasurer We thank Hon. Aida M. Delgado Colón, Chief Judge of the USDC-PR, Ricardo L. Ortiz Colón and Frances Ríos de Morán, Esq., Clerk of the Court, for making this issue possible. We also thank Hon. Enrique S. Lamoutte Inclán, Hon. National Delegate Francisco A. Besosa, Hon. Gustavo A. Gelpí, Hon. Silvia Carreño Coll, María Ligia Giráldez Hon. Bruce J. McGiverin, and colleagues Ricardo Casellas, Francisco Directors J. Colón-Pagán, Francisco E. Colón-Ramírez, Joseph Feldstein, Brian Roberto Abesada Agüet Gumz, Mariano Mier Romeu, Manuel San Juan, and Jorge E. Vega Joseph G. Feldstein del Valle Pacheco for their contributions to this issue. Joanna Matos Hicks Luz C. Molinelli González We hope you enjoy this issue of From the Bar and invite you to submit Natalia Morales Echevarría your articles or notes for publication in upcoming issues by e-mail to María Dolores Trelles Hernández [email protected]. Immediate Past President Roberto A. Cámara Fuertes Donate to the Foundation of the Copyright ©2016 by the Federal Bar Association, Federal Bar Association! Honorable Raymond L. Acosta Puerto Rico Your donations to the annual Chapter. campaign of the Foundation of the Federal Bar The contents of From the Bar may not be reproduced Association help fund legal education, scholarships without the express written consent of the author. This newsletter is intended for information only and is not to be and community outreach programs. considered legal advice. The views expressed by counsel in the articles published herein are entirely theirs and not of the Chapter or the editorial board. To learn more, visit http://www.fedbar.org/Foundation Editor Luz C. Molinelli-González, Esq. [email protected] Requests for additional copies, submissions, or address updates should be directed to Luz C. Molinelli-González at [email protected]. ANNIVERSARY MESSAGE FROM THE CHIEF JUDGE OF THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT by Aida M. Delgado Colon, Chief Judge, USDC-PR Court of Puerto Rico were to become completely integrated into the federal judicial system.”1 As Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto As the 1967 Annual Report of the Director of the Rico, it is an honor and my pleasure Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts stated, upon to invite all of you, fellow members of conferring “the same life tenure upon the U.S. District the judiciary, distinguished members Judges in Puerto Rico, as is provided for [other Article III of the federal bar and Unit Heads district judges...] the last remaining barrier to the full and from state and federal agencies, to complete integration of the District Court in Puerto Rico our District Court’s celebration of into the federal constitutional judicial system has been its 50th anniversary as an Article III eliminated.” Court. Thus, on January 16, 1967, President Johnson proceeded to As you may know, immediately after the United States’ nominate Judge Cancio to become the first judge to serve intervention here, Puerto Rico was ruled by a military in Puerto Rico with life tenure under Article III. Judge government. In 1899, Brigadier-General Davis, empowered Cancio was confirmed by the Senate on June 12, 1967, and by the provisions of General Order 88, created a U.S. he served brilliantly on the bench until January 31, 1974. Provisional Court in Puerto Rico. This Provisional Court Interestingly, the fact that, to this day, the Puerto Rico flag was superseded when the U.S. Congress enacted the is displayed together with that of the United States in every Foraker Act in 1900, which provided a new civil government courtroom in our District is due to Judge Cancio’s initiative. for Puerto Rico. On June 2, 1970, President Richard M. Nixon nominated José V. Toledo to serve on our Court and, on September 25, Under the Foraker Act, the United States District Court 1970, the United States Senate confirmed him. Upon for the District of Puerto Rico was considered a territorial receiving his commission on December 1, 1970, at the age of court. Back then, federal judges served four (4) year terms. 39, he became the youngest member of the federal judicial Thereafter and until 1966, judges were appointed to serve system. He then became Chief Judge in 1974 on the same day eight (8) year terms. Throughout these years, the number that Judge Cancio retired. Regrettably, Judge Toledo passed and complexity of the cases brought before the Puerto Rico away on February 3, 1980, but his ten years on the bench federal court system were impressive and the presence of did not go unnoticed. During his short tenure, our District visiting judges was often necessary. was transformed in all imaginable ways as he literally On January 28, 1952, President Harry S. Truman nominated revolutionized the Court, especially its administrative Clemente Ruíz- Nazario to be the first native-born Puerto structure. Judge Toledo modernized equipment, added Rican United States District Judge. He was appointed to the support staff, and improved salaries. He also initiated the bench after being confirmed by the United States Senate on student law program, implemented the Speedy Trial Act March 15, 1952. After an outstanding career as a solo judge, of 1974, and obtained for the District professional library Judge Ruíz-Nazario’s call for the appointment of a due to services and a second Magistrate Judge position. Due to Judge Cancio’s initiative. his contributions to the Puerto Rico federal judiciary, the Old San Juan Courthouse was named, in 1999, the José V. July 21, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Judge Toledo Federal Building and United States Courthouse. Hiram Cancio to the federal bench to fill the second seat, which Congress had created in 1961. Like his predecessors, Since 1966, when two District Judge seats existed, Judge Cancio’s appointment was for a fixed term. However, and despite an ever increasing and ever more complex after his appointment, Congress, on September 12, 1966, workload, only five (5) additional seats, for a total of seven enacted Public Law 89-571 (80 Stat. 764), which provided (7) active judgeship positions, have been created. The life tenure to the federal judges on our bench under last of these positions was created in 1978. Nonetheless, the protections of Article III of the U.S. Constitution. Undoubtedly, the most significant advancement the statute 1 Legislative History, 2 USC Can 2786-2790 (1960). intended to achieve was that “the judges in the District Continued on next page Summer 2016 | Issue no. 57 | 3 litigants to submit, and jurors to receive, trial evidence in ESSAGE electronic format. Today, members of the bar comfortably M … operate in a “paperless” setting. Continued from previous page The Pre-Trial and Probation Office, as it now exists, has nineteen (19) District Judges have been appointed to fill undergone a merger of its two main areas of work: one these seats. Currently, the District Court consists of seven being the pre-trial activation of cases and the supervision (7) active District Judges, three (3) senior District Judges of individuals on bail, and the other being the court services and four (4) Magistrate Judges. The District of Puerto Rico component which involves pre- sentence investigations is the second largest district (the first being the District of and the supervision of individuals on supervised release. Massachusetts) in the First Circuit. The office is staffed with approximately 85 officers and Given the geographic and socio-economic conditions prevailing in our District, our criminal workload continues Since 1966, the federal to increase. Civil filings, which for sometime experienced a reduction here as they did nationwide, have increased over judiciary in Puerto the last two years.