View source for District Court of Guam

{{short description|United States territorial court}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2015}}
The '''District Court of Guam'''<ref name=48USC1424>{{cite web | title=The Organic Act of Guam | url=http://www.guamcourts.org/CompilerofLaws/GCA/OrganicAct/Organic%20Act.PDF |publisher =  District Court of Guam | access-date=April 8, 2010 | quote=The judicial authority of Guam shall be vested in a court established by Congress designated as the "District Court of Guam" ...The District Court of Guam shall have the jurisdiction of a district court of the United States, including, but not limited to, the diversity jurisdiction provided for in 1332 of title 28, United States Code, and that of a bankruptcy court of the United States.}}</ref> (in case citations, '''D. Guam''') is a [[United States territorial court]] with jurisdiction over the [[Territories of the United States|United States territory]] of [[Guam]]. It sits in the capital, [[Hagåtña]]. Appeals of the court's decisions are taken to the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit]]. It is not an [[Article I and Article III tribunals|Article III court]], and therefore its judges do not have [[life tenure]], but are appointed to ten-year terms.<ref name=USC1424b>{{cite web|title=48 U.S. Code § 1424b – Judge of District Court; appointment, tenure, removal, and compensation; appointment of United States attorney and marshal|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/48/1424b|website=[[Legal Information Institute]]|publisher=Cornell Law School|access-date=25 August 2017}}</ref>
{{Infobox U.S. federal court
| court_type = tribunal
| court_name = District Court of Guam<br/><small>{{native name|ch|Fanhusgayan Destriton Guåhån}}</small>
| abbreviation = D. Guam
| seal = District Court of Guam seal.gif
| seal_size = 150
| map_image_name = 
| map_image_width = 
| map_image_caption = 
| courthouse = United States Courthouse
| location = [[Hagåtña, Guam]]
| appeals_to = [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|Ninth Circuit]]
| established = 1950
| authority = Article IV
| created_by = [[Guam Organic Act of 1950]]<br>{{UnitedStatesCode|48|1424|1424c}}
| composition = [[President of the United States|Presidential]] nomination<br>with [[United States Senate|Senate]] [[advice and consent]]
| judges_assigned = 1
| term_length = 10 years (and until successor is chosen and qualified)
| chief = [[Frances Tydingco-Gatewood]]
| us_attorney = Shawn N. Anderson
| us_marshal = Fernando L. G. Sablan
| official_site = {{URL|http://www.gud.uscourts.gov/}}
}}

== History ==
[[File:U.S. District Court of Guam.JPG|thumb|right|Courthouse in Hagåtña]]
The District Court of Guam was established in 1950 by the [[Guam Organic Act of 1950|Guam Organic Act]] to have the same jurisdiction as a [[United States district court]].<ref name="48USC1424" />  Under Section 22(a) of the Guam Organic Act, the Court was granted:
* in all causes arising under the laws of the United States, the jurisdiction of a [[United States district court|district court of the United States]] as such court is defined in section 451 of title 28, United States Code;
* original jurisdiction in all other causes in Guam, jurisdiction over which has not been transferred by the legislature to other court or courts established by it, and;
* such appellate jurisdiction as the legislature may determine.
In 1951, the [[Legislature of Guam|Guam Legislature]] created Commissioners' Courts, the Police Court, and the Island Court, decisions from which were appealable to the District Court. In 1974, the Legislature consolidated these courts into the Guam Superior Court. The legislature also created a [[Supreme Court of Guam|Guam Supreme Court]] to hear appeals from the Superior Court. However, the Ninth Circuit found in 1976 that the appellate jurisdiction of the District Court could not be transferred without authorization by [[United States Congress|Congress]], and the Supreme Court of the United States upheld this ruling in a 5–4 decision in 1977. Justice [[Thurgood Marshall]] wrote the dissenting opinion, in which he argued that Congress had plainly authorized the enactment of the challenged legislation.<ref>[https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/431/195.html ''Guam v. Olsen''], 431 U.S. 195 (1977).</ref> Further legislation divested the District Court's appellate jurisdiction over local matters in 1994.<ref name="history">{{cite web |url=http://www.gud.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/documents/history_of_the_district_court-a.pdf |title=History of the District Court of Guam |website=gud.uscourts.gov |publisher=District Court of Guam |access-date=July 27, 2017}}</ref>

The District Court was housed in the [[Guam Congress Building]] from 1950 to 1968, in the Courthouse of Guam from 1968 to 1978, in the Pacific News Building from 1978 to 2000, and since then in the United States Courthouse Building.<ref name="history" />

== Current judge ==
<onlyinclude>
{{As of|2006|08|08|df=US}}:
{{start U.S. judgeship Current}}
{{U.S. judgeship row Current|
  index=6|
  title=Chief Judge|
  name=[[Frances Tydingco-Gatewood]]|
  duty station=[[Hagåtña, Guam|Hagåtña]]|
  born=1958|
  term=2006–present|
  chief term=2006–present|
  senior term=—|
  appointer=[[List of federal judges appointed by George W. Bush|G.W. Bush]]|
}}
{{end U.S. judgeship Current}}</onlyinclude>

== Vacancy and pending nomination ==

{| class=wikitable
! Seat
! Prior judge's duty station
! Seat last held by
! Vacancy reason
! Date of vacancy
! Nominee
! Date of nomination
|-
| 1
| [[Hagåtña, Guam|Hagåtña]]
| [[Frances Tydingco-Gatewood]]
| Term expired
| October 30, 2016
| align="center" | {{sort|0|–}}
| align="center" | {{sort|0|–}}
|}

==Former judges==
{{start U.S. judgeship Former}}
{{U.S. judgeship row Former|
  index=1|
  name={{sortname|Paul D.|Shriver}}|
  state=[[Guam|GU]]|
  borndied=—|
  term=1951–1959|
  chief term=1951–1959|
  senior term=—|
  appointer=[[List of federal judges appointed by Harry S. Truman|Truman]]|
  termination=|
}}
{{U.S. judgeship row Former|
  index=2|
  name={{sortname|Eugene R.|Gilmartin}}|
  state=[[Guam|GU]]|
  borndied=—|
  term=1959–1961|
  chief term=1959–1961|
  senior term=—|
  appointer=[[List of federal judges appointed by Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]]|
  termination=|
}}
{{U.S. judgeship row Former|
  index=3|
  name={{sortname|Paul D.|Shriver}}|
  state=[[Guam|GU]]|
  borndied=—|
  term=1961–1969|
  chief term=1961–1969|
  senior term=—|
  appointer=[[List of federal judges appointed by John F. Kennedy|Kennedy]]|
  termination=|
}}
{{U.S. judgeship row Former|
  index=4|
  name={{sortname|Cristobal C.|Duenas}}|
  state=[[Guam|GU]]|
  borndied=—|
  term=1969–1991|
  chief term=1969–1991|
  senior term=—|
  appointer=[[List of federal judges appointed by Richard Nixon|Nixon]]|
  termination=Resignation|
}}
{{U.S. judgeship row Former|
  index=5|
  name={{sortname|John S.|Unpingco}}|
  state=[[Guam|GU]]|
  borndied=1950–2023|
  term=1992–2004|
  chief term=1992–2004|
  senior term=—|
  appointer=[[List of federal judges appointed by George H. W. Bush|G.H.W. Bush]]|
  termination=Expiration of term|
}}
{{end U.S. judgeship Former}}

==See also==
* [[Courts of the United States]]
* [[List of current United States district judges]]
* [[List of United States federal courthouses#Guam|List of United States federal courthouses in Guam]]
* [[Politics of Guam]]
* [[Supreme Court of Guam]]
* [[United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands]]
* [[District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.gud.uscourts.gov/ District Court of Guam]

{{United States 9th Circuit district judges}}
{{United States 9th Circuit senior district judges}}
{{USDistCourts}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:District Court of Guam}}
[[Category:Government of Guam]]
[[Category:Courts of insular areas of the United States|Guam]]
[[Category:Hagåtña, Guam]]
[[Category:1950 establishments in Guam]]
[[Category:Courts and tribunals established in 1950]]


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