October 15, 2025

Guam and NMI Events

Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia, at left, with Chief District Judge Ramona V. Manglona, U.S. District Court for the District of Northern Mariana Islands, and Chief District Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, District Court of Guam, pictured with Chief Judge 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, Ninth Circuit Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia, Senior Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown and Circuit Judge Johnnie B. Rawlinson 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 the Northern Mariana Islands’ annual joint district conference in partnership with the Pacific Judicial Council.

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. Chief Judge Murguia provided a state of the circuit address. Also during the conference, the Honorable Cristobal C. Duenas Excellence Award was presented to retired Magistrate Judge Joaquin Manibusan Jr., who served the district from 2004 to 2020. Senior Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown, chair of the Pacific Islands Committee, and Jacqueline Taitano Terlaje, Guam Bar Association president, provided updates and demonstration of Artificial Intelligence, while Circuit Judge Johnnie B. 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; Jacqueline Taitano Terlaje, Guam Bar Association president, 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. Chief Judge Murguia provided a state of the circuit address.

Additionally, Judge McKeown presented on “Artificial Intelligence—Where are We Going and What are the Challenges?” 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.”

Chief Judge Murguia and Justice John A. Manglona, of the Supreme Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, participated in a panel discussion the following day 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 ranged from jurisdictional independence of judges to constitutional interpretation to island jurisdictions’ constitutional review, and corpus linguistics and interpretation.

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