[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 119 (Monday, August 1, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H5868-H5870]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
RECOGNIZING PAST AND PRESENT JUDICIARY OF COMMONWEALTH OF NORTHERN
MARIANA ISLANDS
(Mr. SABLAN asked and was given permission to address the House for 1
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
Mr. SABLAN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the many
individuals who founded, developed and stewarded the judicial system in
the Northern Mariana Islands, where American jurisprudence was rooted
in the liberation of our islands in 1944.
The World War II-era naval military government established a three-
tiered
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organization of Exceptional Military Courts. The later-established
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands judiciary was also a three-
tiered court system.
When the Commonwealth was formed in 1978, a Commonwealth Trial Court,
later renamed the Commonwealth Superior Court, was established. During
the trial court's infancy, the Federal district court for the Northern
Mariana Islands retained limited original and appellate jurisdiction
over local matters.
In 1989, a Commonwealth Supreme Court with local appellate
jurisdiction was created. Finally, in 2004, Ninth Circuit appellate
jurisdiction over Commonwealth Supreme Court decisions ended, and those
decisions are now appealable only to the United States Supreme Court.
The history of our court system is colorful and is as unique as our
islands and our people. Please join me in paying tribute to the many
judges and justices who have served our islands with distinction.
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the many individuals who
founded, developed, and stewarded the judicial system in the Northern
Mariana Islands. American jurisprudence in the Northern Marianas is
rooted in the American invasion and liberation of the islands in 1944.
The earliest American laws in this World War II period were
proclamations from the Naval Military Government, which exercised
control over the islands for three years following the initial
invasion. A three-tiered organization of Exceptional Military Courts
was established by Admiral Chester Nimitz. Under this system, Summary
Provost Courts, with one military officer sitting as judge, were
established as courts of limited jurisdiction to hear cases for which
the punishment was less than one year in prison or a fine of less than
two thousand dollars. Superior Provost Courts--comprised of one or more
military officers--were convened on an ad hoc basis to consider cases
in which the potential punishment ranged to ten years in prison. The
Military Commission was the highest court of the land, and could hear
cases of any nature. This tribunal was convened by the Military
Governor and the three military officers who comprised the Commission
could mete out any punishment up to, and including, a death sentence--
although any execution could not be carried out without the
confirmation of the Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Military
Government did not establish any military courts with jurisdiction over
civil matters--during this period, local disputes that were not
informally resolved among the native islanders were resolved with the
assistance of a military officer acting as a ``higher authority,'' but
not sitting as a court. Records indicate that a Village Magistrate
Court may have been established in 1947, shortly before the advent of
the United Nations' Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands in July of
that year.
The judiciary established in the Trust Territory, as in Naval
Military Government days, was a three-tiered system of community
courts, district courts, and a High Court. Community court judges,
appointed by the district administrator, could hear civil matters in
which the amount in dispute did not exceed one hundred dollars and
criminal matters in which the punishment did not exceed six months in
jail, a one hundred dollar fine, or both. District courts had
jurisdiction over civil matters in which the amount in dispute did not
exceed one thousand dollars and criminal matters in which the
punishment did not exceed two years in jail, a two thousand dollar
fine, or both. District courts were staffed by a presiding judge and
one or more associate judges, appointed by the High Commissioner, and
also had appellate jurisdiction over community court actions. The High
Court, which consisted of a chief justice and a number of associate
justices and temporary judges, had appellate review over district court
decisions and also had general jurisdiction over all civil and criminal
cases in the Trust Territory.
Upon the formation of the Commonwealth in 1978, a Commonwealth Trial
Court was established by our local legislature pursuant to the
Commonwealth Constitution. The first judge of the court was confirmed
in February 1979, and was joined by additional judges over the
following few years. During the trial court's infancy, the federal
district court for the Northern Marianas retained jurisdiction over
civil cases involving amounts in controversy over five thousand
dollars, criminal cases in which the potential penalty exceeded five
years' imprisonment, and all jury trials. The district court also
maintained appellate jurisdiction over Commonwealth Trial Court
decisions.
In 1989, a public law renamed the Commonwealth Trial Court as the
Commonwealth Superior Court, and established a Commonwealth Supreme
Court with local appellate jurisdiction.
Perhaps the most significant event in the history of the Commonwealth
judiciary occurred in 1997, when voters in the Commonwealth approved a
House Legislative Initiative which established the Commonwealth Supreme
and Superior Courts as constitutional entities under a unified
judiciary system.
In May 2004, the Commonwealth court system achieved status akin to
that of all other state judiciaries, when Ninth Circuit appellate
jurisdiction over Commonwealth Supreme Court decisions ended. Now,
Commonwealth Supreme Court decisions are final unless the United States
Supreme Court grants certiorari review.
Recently, our community celebrated the culmination of a multiyear
project with the publication of The Northern Mariana Islands Judiciary:
A Historical Overview, authored by past and present members of our
judiciary, law clerks, and others, and which provides a comprehensive
view of the evolution of law and legal systems in the Commonwealth from
1521 to the present. The book was published by the Northern Marianas
Judiciary Historical Society, and was funded by a National Endowment
for the Humanities grant administered by the NMI Council for the
Humanities.
The Commonwealth judiciary has evolved from its original roots in
military necessity to a full-fledged branch of government, coequal with
the local executive and legislative branches. Today, there are three
Supreme Court justices and five Superior Court judges, the majority of
whom were born and raised in our community. And, in addition, there is
a United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands to
which the President has nominated and the U.S. Senate has confirmed a
native of the Northern Mariana Islands. The history of our court system
is colorful and as unique as our islands and our people.
I ask you to join me in paying tribute to the many judges and
justices who have served our islands with distinction over the course
of nearly 70 years since the Battle of Saipan.
Current Commonwealth Supreme Court justices: Miguel S. Demapan, Chief
Justice; Alexandro C. Castro, Associate Justice; and John A. Manglona,
Associate Justice.
Current Commonwealth Superior Court judges: Robert C. Naraja,
Presiding Judge; David A. Wiseman, Associate Judge; Ramona V. Manglona,
Associate Judge; Kenneth L. Govendo, Associate Judge; and Perry B.
Inos, Associate Judge.
Former Commonwealth Supreme Court justices: Jose S. Dela Cruz, Chief
Justice; Marty W.K. Taylor, Chief Justice; Pedro M. Atalig, Associate
Justice; Jesus C. Borja, Associate Justice; and Ramon G. Villagomez,
Associate Justice.
Former Commonwealth Superior Court judges: Edward Manibusan,
Presiding Judge; Timothy H. Bellas, Associate Judge; Virginia S.
Sablan-Onerheim, Associate Judge; and Juan T. Lizama, Associate Judge.
Former Commonwealth Trial Court judges: Robert E. Moore, Associate
Judge; Robert A. Hefner, Presiding Judge; and Herbert D. Soll,
Associate Judge.
Current and former pro tem justices: Arthur R. Barcinas, Associate
Judge, Guam Superior Court; Timothy H. Bellas, former Associate Judge,
CNMI Superior Court; Richard H. Benson, former Associate Justice,
Federated States of Micronesia Supreme Court; Michael J. Bordallo,
Associate Judge, Guam Superior Court; Jesus C. Borja, former Associate
Justice, CNMI Supreme Court; F. Philip Carbullido, Chief Justice, Guam
Supreme Court; Benjamin J.F. Cruz, former Chief Justice, Guam Supreme
Court; Alberto C. Lamorena III, Presiding Judge, Guam Superior Court;
Edward Manibusan, former Presiding Judge, CNMI Superior Court; Joaquin
V.E. Manibusan, Jr., former Associate Judge, Guam Superior Court;
Katherine A. Maraman, Associate Justice, Guam Supreme Court; Virginia
S. Sablan-Onerheim, former Associate Judge, CNMI Superior Court; Vernon
P. Perez, Associate Judge, Guam Superior Court; Kathleen M. Salii,
Associate Justice, Republic of Palau Supreme Court; Peter C. Siguenza,
Jr., former Chief Justice, Guam Supreme Court; Herbert D. Soil, former
Associate Judge, CNMI Trial Court; Anita A. Sukola, Associate Judge,
Guam Superior Court; Robert J. Torres, Jr., Associate Justice, Guam
Supreme Court; Frances M. Tydingco-Gatewood, former Associate Justice,
Guam Supreme Court; and Steven S. Unpingco, Associate Judge, Guam
Superior Court.
Former special judges: Pedro M. Atalig, Timothy H. Bellas, Benjamin
J.F. Cruz, Larry L. Hillblom, Edward C. King, Rexford C. Kosack,
Alberto C. Lamorena III, Juan T. Lizama, Jane E. Mack, Vicente T.
Salas, Michael A. White, and David A. Wiseman.
Former Mariana Islands District Court and Community Courts justices
and judges: in Saipan, Juan M. Ada, Ignacio V. Benavente, Olympio T.
Borja, Francisco R. Cruz, Vicente E.D. Deleon Guerrero, Elias P.
Sablan, Felipe A. Salas, and Jose A. Sonoda; in Rota, Andres C. Atalig,
Jose A. Calvo, Fortunato T. Manglona, Santiago M. Manglona, Thomas C.
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Mendiola, and Melchor S. Mendiola; and in Tinian, Joaquin C. Aldan,
Freddy V. Hofschneider, Sr., and Henry V. Hofschneider.
Former Trust Territory High Court judges and justices: Edward P.
Furber, Chief Justice and Temporary Judge; Robert K. Shoecraft, Chief
Justice; Harold W. Burnett, Chief Justice and Associate Judge; Alex R.
Munson, Chief Justice; James R. Nichols, Associate Judge; Pleaz William
Mobley, Associate Judge; Philip R. Toomin, Associate Judge; Arthur J.
McCormick, Associate Judge; Paul F. Kinnare, Associate Judge; Joseph W.
Goss, Associate Judge and Temporary Judge; D. Kelley Turner, Associate
Judge; Arvin H. Brown, Jr., Associate Judge; Robert A. Hefner,
Associate Judge; Donald C. Williams, Associate Judge; Mamoru Nakamura,
Associate Judge; Ernest F. Gianotti, Associate Judge; and Richard I.
Miyamoto, Associate Judge.
Former Trust Territory High Court temporary judges: Richard H.
Benson, Robert Clifton, E. Avery Crary, P. Drucker, Christobal C.
Duenas, Eugene R. Gilmartin, Anthony M. Kennedy, Alex Kozinski, Alfred
Laureta, Jose C. Manibusan, Carl A. Muecke, Joaquin C. Perez, Paul D.
Shriver, J.M. Spivey, and Dickran M. Tevrizian.
Current and former U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana
Islands judges: Ramona Villagomez Manglona, Chief Judge; Alex R.
Munson, former Chief Judge; Alfred Laureta, former Chief Judge.
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