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Ramona Villagomez Manglona

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Ramona Villagomez Manglona
Chief Judge of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 29, 2011
Preceded byAlex R. Munson
Judge of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands
Incumbent
Assumed office
July 29, 2011
Appointed byBarack Obama
Preceded byAlex R. Munson
Associate Judge of the Northern Mariana Islands Superior Court
In office
May 2003 – July 2011
Nominated byJuan Babauta
Preceded byRoberto Camacho Naraja
Succeeded byJoe Camacho
16th Attorney General of the Northern Mariana Islands
In office
November 2002 – May 2003
GovernorJuan Babauta
Preceded byRobert Tenorio Torres
Succeeded byClyde Lemons Jr. (Acting)
Personal details
Born
Ramona Emma Pangelinan Villagomez[1]

(1967-02-26) February 26, 1967 (age 57)
Saipan, Mariana Islands, Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Political partyIndependent
SpouseJohn A. Manglona
Children2
EducationUniversity of California, Berkeley (BA)
University of New Mexico (JD)

Ramona Villagomez Manglona (/mɒŋˈloʊnjə/; née Ramona Emma Pangelinan Villagomez; born February 26, 1967) is the United States chief judge of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.[2]

Early life and education

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Manglona was born February 26, 1967, on Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Japanese. She received her Juris Doctor from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1996.[3]

Career

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Prior to attending law school, Manglona worked in her family's real estate management business. After graduating from law school, she served as a law clerk for two of the judges of the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. She then joined the Office of the Attorney General, serving first in the criminal division and later in the civil division. She became Deputy Attorney General of the Northern Mariana Islands early in 2002 and became the first female Attorney General of the Northern Mariana Islands in November 2002. She was appointed to the Superior Court in May 2003 and resigned from that post in June 2011 to take up her current post in the District Court.[3] Her successor as judge, Joseph James Norita Camacho, was sworn into office as a judge on November 19, 2011.[4]

District court service

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On January 26, 2011, President Barack Obama nominated Manglona to the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on her nomination on March 16, 2011, and reported her nomination favorably on April 7, 2011.[5] On July 26, 2011, the Senate confirmed her nomination by voice vote. She received her commission on July 29, 2011, and took her oath of office on July 30, 2011.[6] Her commission expired on July 28, 2021, at which time her term would have ended, although by rule it continued until she was either reappointed or her successor chosen and qualified.[7]

On August 30, 2023, President Joe Biden announced his intent to reappoint Manglona as a judge of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands.[8] On September 11, 2023, her nomination was sent to the Senate.[9] On November 15, 2023, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[10] On December 7, 2023, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 20–1 vote.[11][12] On January 3, 2024, her nomination was returned to the president under Rule XXXI, Paragraph 6 of the United States Senate[13] and she was renominated on January 8, 2024.[14] On January 18, 2024, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 21–0 vote.[15][16] On April 15, 2024, the United States Senate voted on the motion to table her nomination and it failed by a 39–50 vote.[17] Later that day, cloture was invoked on her nomination by an 84–3 vote.[18] On April 16, 2024, her nomination was confirmed by a 96–2 vote.[19] She was sworn in to her second term on April 22, 2024, by Guam District Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood.[20]

On June 26, 2024, Manglona heard the high-profile plea deal case of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.[21][22][23] She approved the plea deal, which had been negotiated with Assange's lawyers by the U.S. Department of Justice, and sentenced Assange to prison time already served in the United Kingdom. Assange was freed immediately and left Saipan for Australia.[21]

Personal life

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Manglona is married to John A. Manglona, an associate justice of the Northern Mariana Islands Supreme Court since 2000. They have two children.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees". United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. March 16, 2011.
  2. ^ http://www.mvariety.com/2011080439095/local-news/federal-judge-manglona-hears-cases.php[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ a b c "Judge Manglona's Biography". Archived from the original on 2011-10-05.
  4. ^ De La Torre, Ferdie (November 19, 2011). "Camacho takes his oath in Carolinian-a first". Saipan Tribune. Retrieved May 16, 2024. Camacho, 42, is the first judge of Carolinian descent to be elevated to the CNMI Courts.
  5. ^ "Congress.gov - Library of Congress". thomas.loc.gov. Archived from the original on 2011-12-14. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
  6. ^ "Saipan Tribune". Archived from the original on 2012-06-14. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  7. ^ "48 U.S. Code § 1821(b)(1)". Legal Information Institute. Cornell Law School. Retrieved 15 November 2020.
  8. ^ "President Biden Names Thirty-Seventh Round of Judicial Nominees and Announces One New Nominee to Serve as U.S. Marshal" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. August 30, 2023. Retrieved August 30, 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  9. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. September 11, 2023.
  10. ^ "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. November 14, 2023.
  11. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – December 7, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  12. ^ Weiss, Benjamin S. "Despite partisan rumblings, Senate forges ahead with court nominees". Courthouse News. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
  13. ^ "PN1021 — Ramona Villagomez Manglona — The Judiciary". congress.gov. January 3, 2024. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
  14. ^ "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. January 8, 2024.
  15. ^ "Results of Executive Business Meeting – January 18, 2024" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  16. ^ "Senate Judiciary Committee Advances Twenty Judicial Nominations, One Executive Nomination to the Full Senate" (Press release). United States Senate Judiciary Committee. January 18, 2024. Retrieved January 18, 2024.
  17. ^ "On the Motion to Table (Motion to Table: Ramona Villagomez Manglona to be Judge for the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands)". United States Senate. April 15, 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  18. ^ "On the Cloture Motion (Motion to Invoke Cloture: Ramona Villagomez Manglona to be Judge for the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands)". United States Senate. April 15, 2024. Retrieved April 15, 2024.
  19. ^ "On the Nomination (Confirmation: Ramona Villagomez Manglona, of the Northern Mariana Islands, to be Judge for the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands)". United States Senate. April 16, 2024. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  20. ^ "Manglona sworn in for 2nd 10-year term". Saipan Tribune. April 23, 2024.
  21. ^ a b "Julian Assange live news: WikiLeaks founder pleads guilty and awaits sentencing in Saipan district courtroom". The Guardian. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
  22. ^ "Why is Julian Assange headed to the little-known island of Saipan?". SBS News. Retrieved 2024-06-25. the hearing is to take place there because of Assange's opposition to travelling to the continental US, and the court's proximity to Australia… Assange is due to be sentenced to 62 months of time already served at a hearing on the island of Saipan at 9am local time (9am AEST) on Wednesday… Saipan Tribune reports Assange will appear before chief judge Ramona Villagomez Manglona…
  23. ^ "Julian Assange leaves UK after reaching plea deal with US". The Irish News (US). Retrieved 2024-06-25 – via MSN. A letter to the United States chief judge of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands Ramona V Manglona, as seen by the PA news agency, also confirmed Assange intends to return to Australia once proceedings conclude.
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Legal offices
Preceded by Judge of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands
2011–present 		Incumbent
Chief Judge of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands
2011–present
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