Ninth Circuit Judges Travel to Pacific Islands for Conferences and Oral Arguments

Chief District Judge Ramona V. Manglona (at left center), U.S. District Court for the District of Northern Mariana Islands, and Chief District Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood (at right center), District Court of Guam, pictured with Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia.

Last month, after more than two decades since a Ninth Circuit panel last heard oral arguments in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia, Senior Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown, chair of the Circuit’s Pacific Islands Committee, and Circuit Judge Johnnie B. Rawlinson, member of the Circuit’s Pacific Islands Committee, participated in a sitting at the U.S. District Court in Saipan. The judges also participated in the District of Guam’s annual district conference and NMI’s annual joint district conference in partnership with the Pacific Judicial Council. Chief Judge Murguia provided a state of the circuit address at both conferences.

The judges visited the District of Guam on September 22 and attended the court’s 75-year Anniversary Conference. Chief District Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood presided and provided a state of the district address. During the conference, retired Magistrate Judge Joaquin Manibusan Jr., who served the district from 2004 to 2020, was presented with the Honorable Cristobal C. Duenas Excellence Award. Judge McKeown, and Jacqueline Taitano Terlaje, Guam Bar Association president, provided updates on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the courts, and a demonstration of how AI works. Judge Rawlinson presented on “Statutory Interpretation: A Practical View.”

Also, in attendance were Magistrate Judge Michael J. Bordallo, District of Guam, and Magistrate Judge Sean E. Brown, Superior Court of Guam; Leilani Lujan, Federal Public Defender for Districts of Guam and NMI; and Sixth Circuit Chief Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton, who participated in a conversation that was moderated by lawyer representative Rodney Jacobs, District of Guam.

Judges Murguia, McKeown, and Rawlinson then traveled to the Northern Mariana Islands, where they heard oral arguments and participated in a Q&A session with local high school students. Following the Q&A session, the judges attended the three-day Joint Annual NMI District Court Conference & Pacific Judicial Council Mid-Year Conference, where Chief District Judge Ramona V. Manglona and Pacific Judicial Council president, Chief Justice Robert J. Torres of the Guam Supreme Court, welcomed the participants and gave remarks.

Additionally, Judge McKeown presented on “Artificial Intelligence—Where are We Going and What are the Challenges?” And Judge Rawlinson was joined by Judge Sutton, District Judge Joseph N. LaPlante, of the District of New Hampshire, and James A. Heilpern, board chair and president of the Judicial Education Institute, in a presentation on “Intro to Statutory and Constitutional Interpretation.”

The following day, Chief Judge Murguia and Justice John A. Manglona, of the Supreme Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, participated in a panel discussion on “Judicial Conduct and Judicial Disability” that was moderated by Michel Li, law clerk to Judge Ramona V. Manglona.

Presentations for the remainder of the joint conference engaged attendees on important topics, including among others: judicial independence, and constitutional interpretation and review for island jurisdictions.

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