This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in the territories of the U.S. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are other distinctions such as the first minority men in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.
American Samoa
Peter Tali Coleman: First Samoan male lawyer in American Samoa (1951)
Pancracio Palting:[6] First Filipino male judge in Guam before the court system was later reorganized (c. 1920s)
Justice
Joaquín Cruz Pérez:[6] First Guamanian male to serve as an associate justice for Guam (1915)
Joaquin Perez:[7] First Chamorro male appointed as the presiding judge of the Superior Court of Guam (1974)
Benjamin Cruz (1975):[8] First openly LGBT male appointed as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Guam (1997)
Island attorney
Vicente C. Reyes:[6] First male island attorney (or attorney general) in Guam. He would later be appointed as a judge in 1947 before the court system was reorganized.
Attorney general
Douglas Moylan:[6] First Guamanian male lawyer to be appointed as the attorney general of Guam (2003–2007)
Edward Manibusan:[13][14] First Chamorro male lawyer to be elected as the attorney general of the Northern Mariana Islands (2015). He also served as a judge during the course of his career.
Puerto Rico
Lawyer
Benito Díaz Pares (1841):[15] First native-born lawyer in
Puerto Rico
Judge
Clemente Ruiz Nazario (1921):[16] First Puerto Rican male appointed as a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico (1952)
Juan R. Torruella (1957):[17] First Puerto Rican male appointed as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1984) and to serve as its chief judge (1994)
United States Virgin Islands
William H. Hastie: First African American male judge of the District Court of the Virgin Islands (1937)
This is a list of the first minority male lawyer(s) and judge(s) in the territories of the U.S. It includes the year in which the men were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are other distinctions such as the first minority men in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.
American Samoa
Peter Tali Coleman: First Samoan male lawyer in American Samoa (1951)
Pancracio Palting:[6] First Filipino male judge in Guam before the court system was later reorganized (c. 1920s)
Justice
Joaquín Cruz Pérez:[6] First Guamanian male to serve as an associate justice for Guam (1915)
Joaquin Perez:[7] First Chamorro male appointed as the presiding judge of the Superior Court of Guam (1974)
Benjamin Cruz (1975):[8] First openly LGBT male appointed as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of Guam (1997)
Island attorney
Vicente C. Reyes:[6] First male island attorney (or attorney general) in Guam. He would later be appointed as a judge in 1947 before the court system was reorganized.
Attorney general
Douglas Moylan:[6] First Guamanian male lawyer to be appointed as the attorney general of Guam (2003–2007)
Edward Manibusan:[13][14] First Chamorro male lawyer to be elected as the attorney general of the Northern Mariana Islands (2015). He also served as a judge during the course of his career.
Puerto Rico
Lawyer
Benito Díaz Pares (1841):[15] First native-born lawyer in
Puerto Rico
Judge
Clemente Ruiz Nazario (1921):[16] First Puerto Rican male appointed as a judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico (1952)
Juan R. Torruella (1957):[17] First Puerto Rican male appointed as a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit (1984) and to serve as its chief judge (1994)
United States Virgin Islands
William H. Hastie: First African American male judge of the District Court of the Virgin Islands (1937)