Name Carmen Cerezo Role Judge | ||
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Preceded by Seat established on October 20, 1978 by 92 Stat. 1629 Alma mater University of Puerto RicoUniversity of Puerto Rico School of LawUniversity of Virginia School of Law | ||
Who is Carmen Cerezo?
Carmen Consuelo Cerezo (née Vargas, born 1940) is a United States federal judge.
Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Cerezo received a B.A. summa cum laude from University of Puerto Rico in 1963, a J.D. from University of Puerto Rico Law School in 1966, and an LL.M. from University of Virginia School of Law in 1988. She was in private practice in Puerto Rico for only eight months between 1966 and 1967 before being appointed chief law clerk for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, Luis Negron Fernandez. After one year under Chief Justice Fernandez, Cerezo became a law clerk for the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, maintaining that position from 1967 to 1972. She was a judge on the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1972 to 1976, and on the Court of Intermediate Appeals of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1976 to 1980.
On May 14, 1980, President Jimmy Carter nominated Cerezo to a new seat on the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico created by 92 Stat. 1629. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 26, 1980, and received her commission on June 30, 1980. Cerezo is the first Latina to serve on a federal bench, and the first female federal judge in Puerto Rico. She served as chief judge from 1993-99.
She was married to Benny Frankie Cerezo, an attorney, former state legislator and political analyst until his death on April 15, 2013, and is the mother of one son, a partner in a Miami law firm, and one daughter.