Carmen Consuelo Cerezo

Carmen Consuelo Cerezo (née Vargas, born August 22, 1940) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.

Carmen Consuelo Cerezo
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
In office 1993–1999
Preceded by	Gilberto Gierbolini-Ortiz
Succeeded by	Hector Manuel Laffitte
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
Incumbent
Assumed office June 30, 1980
Appointed by	Jimmy Carter
Preceded by	Seat established by 92 Stat. 1629
Personal details
Born	Carmen Consuelo Vargas August 22, 1940[1] San Juan, Puerto Rico
Education	University of Puerto Rico (BA) University of Puerto Rico School of Law (JD) University of Virginia School of Law (LLM)

Education and career

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Cerezo received a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from University of Puerto Rico in 1963, a Juris Doctor from University of Puerto Rico School of Law in 1966, and a Master of Laws 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 of the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1972 to 1976, and of the Court of Intermediate Appeals of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico from 1976 to 1980.[2]

Federal judicial service

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 to 1999.[2] She is the last remaining federal judge appointed by President Carter who is still in active service in the position to which Carter appointed her.

Personal

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.

See also

• List of Puerto Ricans
• History of women in Puerto Rico

References

1. Hearing Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-sixth Congress, First Session
2. Carmen Consuelo Cerezo at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.

External links

• Carmen Consuelo Cerezo at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.