District Court of the Virgin Islands: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 21:18, 12 December 2020
District Court of the Virgin Islands | |
---|---|
(D.V.I.) | |
Location | Charlotte Amalie More locations |
Appeals to | Third Circuit |
Established | 1936 |
Authority | Article IV tribunal |
Created by | 48 U.S.C. §§ 1611–1617 |
Composition method | Presidential nomination with Senate advice and consent |
Judges | 2 |
Judge term length | 10 years (and until successor is chosen and qualified) |
Chief Judge | Wilma A. Lewis |
Officers of the court | |
U.S. Attorney | Gretchen Shappert |
U.S. Marshal | James E. Clark |
www |
The District Court of the Virgin Islands[1] (in case citations, D.V.I.) is a United States territorial court with jurisdiction over federal and diversity actions in the United States Virgin Islands, a United States territory and more specifically an insular area that is an unincorporated organized territory. The court sits in both St. Croix and St. Thomas. Unlike United States district courts, judges on the District Court of the Virgin Islands do not have life tenure, as the court is not an Article III court. Instead, the court is an Article IV court, created pursuant to Congress's Article IV, Section 3 powers. Appeals of the court's decisions are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia.
The District Court used to have jurisdiction over all local civil actions brought in the Virgin Islands, but in 1976 the Virgin Islands Legislature—as allowed by the Revised Organic Act of 1954—gave a portion of this jurisdiction to the former Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands, at that time the local trial court. The jurisdiction of the Territorial Court was expanded to all civil actions in 1990. Similarly, the Legislature gave the Territorial Court jurisdiction over certain criminal actions brought under Virgin Islands law in 1985 and expanded that jurisdiction to all criminal cases in 1993, although the United States Attorney may still bring certain criminal actions in the District Court in some circumstances. In 2004 the Territorial Court was renamed the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands.
Before the creation of the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands in 2007, the Appellate Division of the District Court heard appeals from the Superior Court in three-judge panels. From 2007, the Supreme Court hears these appeals exclusively, with its decisions subject to review by the United States Supreme Court if that court decides to grant certiorari.
The current U.S. Attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands is Gretchen Shappert.
Current judges
As of April 27, 2020[update]:
# | Title | Judge | Duty station | Born | Term of service | Appointed by | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Active | Chief | Senior | ||||||
11 | Chief Judge | Wilma A. Lewis | Christiansted | 1956 | 2011–present | 2013–present | — | Obama |
12 | District Judge | Robert Anthony Molloy | Charlotte Amalie | 1975 | 2020–present | — | — | Trump |
9 | Senior Judge | Raymond Lawrence Finch[2] | inactive | 1940 | 1994–2011 | 1999–2005 | 2011–present | Clinton |
10 | Senior Judge | Curtis Vincent Gómez | inactive | 1953 | 2005–2020 | 2005–2013 | 2020–present | G.W. Bush |
Former U.S. District Judges
# | Judge | State | Born–died | Active service | Chief Judge | Senior status | Appointed by | Reason for termination |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | George Philip Jones[3][4][5] | VI | 1877–1954 | 1936–1937 | — | — | F. Roosevelt | expiration of recess appointment |
2 | William Henry Hastie | VI | 1904–1976 | 1937–1939 | — | — | F. Roosevelt | resignation |
3 | Herman E. Moore[6] | VI | 1892–1980 | 1939–1957 | — | — | F. Roosevelt | retirement |
4 | Walter Arthur Gordon | VI | 1894–1976 | 1958–1968 | — | — | Eisenhower | expiration of term |
5 | Almeric Leander Christian[7][8] | VI | 1919–1999 | 1969–1990 | 1971–1988 | 1990–1993 | Nixon | retirement |
6 | Warren H. Young[9][10] | VI | 1916–1980 | 1971–1980 | — | — | Nixon | death |
7 | David Vincent O'Brien[11][12][13] | VI | 1932–1989 | 1981–1989 | 1988–1989 | — | Reagan | death |
8 | Thomas Kail Moore[14][15] | VI | 1938– | 1992–2005 | 1992–1999 | — | G.H.W. Bush | expiration of term |
See also
- Courts of the United States
- List of current United States district judges
- List of United States federal courthouses in the Virgin Islands
- Politics of the United States Virgin Islands
References
- ^ "48 U.S. Code § 1614 - Judges of District Court". Legal Information Institute. Cornell Law School. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
- ^ Confirmation hearings on federal appointments: hearings before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, first session on confirmations of appointees to the federal judiciary.
- ^ Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America 1939
- ^ The Saint Paul Globe, August 3, 1902
- ^ Star Tribune, December 14, 1954
- ^ Studies in the History of the United States Courts of the Third Circuit
- ^ "Judge Almeric Christian Dies". stjohnsource.com. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "PN725—Thomas K. Moore—The Judiciary". www.congress.gov. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ The Federal reporter. Second series, Volume 568
- ^ Daily News, June 7, 1980
- ^ "PN815—David V. O'Brien—The Judiciary". www.congress.gov. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "PN1220—Raymond L. Finch—The Judiciary". www.congress.gov. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "David V. O'Brien, Federal Judge, 57". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ "PN725—Thomas K. Moore—The Judiciary". www.congress.gov. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ^ Bloomberg: Thomas K Moore