Active Hispanic/Latinx Article III Judges

Article III of the Constitution created the U.S. Supreme Court and gave Congress the power to create the federal courts of appeals and district courts. Since 1789, more than 3,427 judges have served on Article III courts. Currently, there are 92 active Hispanic/Latinx Article III Judges.

Supreme Court of the United States

The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight associate justices. At its discretion, and within certain guidelines established by Congress, the Supreme Court each year hears a limited number of the cases it is asked to decide. Those cases may begin in the federal or state courts and usually involve important questions about the Constitution or federal law.

Judge	Court	Commission	Status	Gender
Sonia Sotomayor	Supreme Court	8/6/2009	Active	Female

Court of Appeals

The 94 U.S. judicial districts are organized into 12 regional circuits, each of which has a United States Court of Appeals. This court hears appeals from the district courts located within its circuit and appeals from decisions of federal administrative agencies. In addition, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has nationwide jurisdiction to hear appeals in specialized cases, such as those involving patent laws and cases decided by the Court of International Trade and the Court of Federal Claims.

Judge	Court	Commission	Status	Gender
Adalberto Jose Jordan	Eleventh Circuit	2/17/2012	Active	Male
Albert Diaz	Fourth Circuit	12/22/2010	Active	Male
Carlos F. Lucero	Tenth Circuit	6/30/1995	Active	Male
Carlos T. Bea	Ninth Circuit	10/1/2003	Senior Status 12/12/19	Male
Consuelo Maria Callahan	Ninth Circuit	5/28/2003	Active	Female
Edward Charles Prado	Fifth Circuit	5/5/2003	Active	Male
Emilio M. Garza	Fifth Circuit	5/30/1991	Terminated/Retired 1/5/15	Male
Ferdinand Francis Fernandez	Ninth Circuit	5/22/1989	Senior Status 6/1/02	Male
Fortunato Pedro Benavides	Fifth Circuit	5/9/1994	Senior Status 2/3/12	Male
Jimmie V. Reyna	Federal Circuit	4/5/2011	Active	Male
Jose Alberto Cabranes	Second Circuit	8/10/1994	Active	Male
Juan R. Torruella	First Circuit	10/4/1984	Active	Male
Julio M. Fuentes	Third Circuit	3/9/2000	Senior Status 7/18/16	Male
Kara Farnandez Stoll	Federal Circuit	7/8/2015	Active	Female
Kim McLane Wardlaw	Ninth Circuit	8/3/1998	Active	Female
Luis Felipe Restrepo	Third Circuit	1/13/2016	Active	Male
Mary Helen Murguia	Ninth Circuit	1/4/2011	Active	Female
Richard A. Paez	Ninth Circuit	3/14/2000	Active	Male

District Courts

The United States District Courts are the trial courts of the federal court system. Within limits set by Congress and the Constitution, the District Courts have jurisdiction to hear nearly all categories of federal cases, including both civil and criminal matters.

There are 94 federal district courts, including at least one district court in each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Three territories of the United States—the Virgin Islands, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands—have District Courts that hear federal cases, including bankruptcy cases.

Judge	Court	Commission	Status	Gender
Aida M. Delgado-Colon	Puerto Rico	3/17/2006	Active	Female
Alia Moses	Texas (WD)	11/15/2002	Active	Female
Analisa Torres	New York (SD)	4/23/2013	Active	Female
Brian Edward Sandoval	Nevada	10/26/2005	Terminated/Resigned 9/15/09	Male
Carlos Eduardo Mendoza	Florida (MD)	6/27/2014	Active	Male
Carlos Murguia	Kansas	9/22/1999	Terminated/Resigned 3/31/20	Male
Carmen Consuelo Cerezo	Puerto Rico	6/30/1980	Active	Female
Cathy Bissoon	Pennsylvania (WD)	10/19/2011	Active	Female
Cecilia M. Altonaga	Florida (SD)	5/7/2003	Active	Female
Christine M. Arguello	Colorado	10/21/2008	Active	Female
Daniel R. Dominguez	Puerto Rico	9/29/1994	Senior Status 7/31/11	Male
David Briones	Texas (WD)	10/11/1994	Senior Status 2/26/09	Male
David Campos Guaderrama	Texas (WD)	4/30/2012	Active	Male
David Wayne Dugan	Illinois (SD)	9/23/2020	Active	Male
David Steven Morales	Texas (SD)	4/25/2019	Active	Male
Diana Saldana	Texas (SD)	2/9/2011	Active	Female
Dora L. Irizarry	New York (ED)	7/8/2004	Senior Status 1/26/20	Female
Edgardo Ramos	New York (SD)	12/6/2011	Active	Male
Eduardo C. Robreno	Pennsylvania (ED)	6/30/1992	Senior Status 8/31/13	Male
Edward J. Garcia	California (ED)	3/14/1984	Senior Status 11/24/96	Male
Edward John Davila	California (ND)	3/3/2011	Active	Male
Esther Salas	New Jersey	6/14/2011	Active	Female
Federico A. Moreno	Florida (SD)	7/16/1990	Active	Male
Fernando M. Olguin	California (CD)	1/16/2013	Active	Male
Fernando Rodriguez Jr.	Texas (SD)	6/12/2018	Active	Male
Francisco Augusto Besosa	Puerto Rico	9/27/2006	Active	Male
Frank Montalvo	Texas (WD)	8/1/2003	Active	Male
Frank R. Zapata	Arizona	8/1/1996	Senior Status 8/3/10	Male
Franklin Ulyses Valderrama	Illinois (ND)	9/23/2020	Active	Male
Gloria Maria Navarro***	Nevada	5/6/2010	Active	Female
Gonzalo P. Curiel	California (SD)	10/1/2012	Active	Male
Gustavo Antonio Gelpi Jr.***	Puerto Rico	8/1/2006	Active	Male
Hector Manuel Laffitte	Puerto Rico	7/27/1983	Terminated/Retired 2/16/07	Female
Hilda G. Tagle	Texas (SD)	3/17/1998	Senior Status 12/31/12	Female
Irma Elsa Gonzalez	California (SD)	8/12/1992	Terminated/Retired 10/25/13	Female
James A. Soto	Arizona	6/9/2014	Active	Male
Jay A. Garcia-Gregory	Puerto Rico	7/11/2000	Active	Male
Jesus G. Bernal	California (CD)	12/12/2012	Active	Male
John A. Mendez	California (ED)	4/17/2008	Active	Male
John Michael Vasquez	New Jersey	1/29/2016	Active	Male
Jorge Antonio Solis	Texas (ND)	9/16/1991	Terminated/Retired 5/1/16	Male
Jorge Luis Alonso	Illinois (ND)	12/19/2014	Active	Male
Jose Alejandro Gonzalez Jr.	Florida (SD)	7/28/1978	Senior Status 11/30/96	Male
Jose Antonio Fuste	Puerto Rico	10/28/1985	Terminated/Retired 6/1/16	Male
Jose E. Martinez	Florida (SD)	9/17/2002	Active	Male
Jose L. Linares	New Jersey	12/3/2002	Terminated/Retired 5/16/19	Male
Jose Rolando Olvera, Jr.	Texas (SD)	8/4/2015	Active	Male
Joseph H. Rodriguez	New Jersey	5/10/1985	Senior Status 5/22/98	Male
Juan Manuel Perez-Gimenez	Puerto Rico	12/6/1979	Senior Status 3/28/06	Male
Juan Ramon Sanchez***	Pennsylvania (ED)	6/24/2004	Active	Male
Judith C. Herrera	New Mexico	6/13/2004	Senior Status 7/1/19	Female
Kathleen Cardone	Texas (WD)	7/29/2003	Active	Female
Kenneth J. Gonzales	New Mexico	8/9/2013	Active	Male
Louis Guirola Jr.	Mississippi (SD)	3/22/2004	Senior Status 3/23/18	Male
M. Christina Armijo	New Mexico	11/12/2001	Senior Status 2/7/18	Female
Manuel Lawrence Real	California (CD)	11/3/1966	Terminated/Death 6/26/19	Male
Marcia Morales Howard	Florida (MD)	2/20/2007	Active	Female
Marco Antonio Hernandez	Oregon	2/9/2011	Active	Male
Marina Garcia Marmolejo	Texas (SD)	10/4/2011	Active	Female
Martha Alicia Vazquez	New Mexico	10/1/1993	Active	Female
Micaela Alvarez	Texas (SD)	12/13/2004	Active	Female
Nelson S. Roman	New York (SD)	5/13/2013	Active	Male
Nevla Gonzales Ramos	Texas (SD)	8/4/2011	Active	Female
Nitza I. Quinones Alejandro ±	Pennsylvania (ED)	6/19/2013	Active	Female
Orlando Luis Garcia***	Texas (WD)	3/11/1994	Active	Male
Pedro A. Delgado Hernandez	Puerto Rico	3/7/2014	Active	Male
Philip Ray Martinez	Texas (WD)	2/12/2002	Active	Male
Philip S. Gutierrez	California (CD)	2/16/2007	Active	Male
Randy Crane	Texas (SD)	3/19/2002	Active	Male
Raul Manuel Arias-Marxauch	Puerto Rico	5/13/2019	Active	Male
Ricardo H. Hinojosa	Texas (SD)	5/5/1983	Active	Male
Ricardo S. Martinez***	Washington (WD)	6/16/2004	Active	Male
Rodolfo Lozano	Indiana (ND)	2/26/1988	Terminated/Death 7/11/17	Male
Rodolfo A. Ruiz II	Florida (SD)	5/3/2019	Active	Male
Roger T. Benitez	California (SD)	6/21/2004	Senior Status 12/31/17	Male
Ronald A. Guzman	Illinois (ND)	11/15/1999	Senior Status 11/16/14	Male
Rosemary Marquez	Arizona	5/19/2014	Active	Female
Roy Kalman Altman	Florida (SD)	4/9/2019	Active	Male
Rubén Castillo	Illinois (ND)	5/9/1994	Terminated/Retired 9/27/19	Male
Rudolph Contreras	District of Columbia	3/23/2012	Active	Male
S. James Otero	California (CD)	2/12/2003	Terminated/Retired 4/10/20	Male
Salvador E. Casellas	Puerto Rico	9/29/1994	Terminated/Death 11/22/17	Male
Salvador Mendoza, Jr.	Washington (ED)	6/19/2014	Active	Male
Steven D. Grimberg	Georgia (ND)	9/13/2019	Active	Male
Vernon S. Broderick	New York (SD)	9/10/2013	Active	Male
Victor Marrero	New York (SD)	10/5/1999	Senior Status 12/31/10	Male
Virginia M. Hernandez Covington	Florida (MD)	9/10/2004	Active	Female
William Joseph Martinez	Colorado	12/21/2010	Active	Male
Xavier Rodriguez	Texas (WD)	8/1/2003	Active	Male
Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers	California (ND)	11/21/2011	Active	Female

Legend

CD - Central District	ED - Eastern District	MD - Middle District	ND - Northern District	SD - Southern District
WD - Western District	± LGBTQ+	*** Current Chief Judge

Data is based on information collected through May 7, 2020. To learn more about the federal courts go to www.fjc.gov.

Judge Carmen C. Cerezo

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Carmen C. Cerezo to the District Court for Puerto Rico and becoming the first Latina to serve on a federal district court.