Superior Court Judges

Presiding Judge Robert Camacho Naraja, born on Saipan on July 17, 1955, graduated from George Washington Senior High School in Guam in 1975 and received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the California Lutheran College in Thousand Oaks, California, in 1979. He graduated with a Juris Doctor degree from Gonzaga School of Law in Spokane, Washington, in 1982. Presiding Judge Naraja is married to Carmen Francesca V. Deleon Guerrero Naraja, and they have five children (Nikita, Matilde, Robert Jr., Thomasa and Leopoldo).

The Honorable Judge David A. Wiseman ascended to the bench in March of 2001 and is the fifteenth Judge confirmed to sit on the Superior Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands since the inception of the Commonwealth in 1978.

Judge Wiseman also served the Commonwealth Judiciary as a Special Judge from 1995-2001. Both positions required nominations of the Governor subject to the advice and consent of Senate.

Judge Wiseman came to the CNMI in 1977, arriving on July 7, 1977 or 7-7-77, which was the transition period of the former Trust Territory District of the Northern Mariana Islands into the Commonwealth government. He and his wife Faythe were field enrolled as Peace Corps Volunteers and he served as a U.S. Peace Corps Attorney first assigned to the Pre-Commonwealth, Fifth Marianas District Legislature and then to the Pre-Commonwealth Mayor and Municipality of Rota.

This was an unique and challenging time and opportunity to be directly involved in the incipient stages of a new government and provided invaluable experience and knowledge for him to serve the several CNMI clients he had.

Upon leaving the Peace Corps he became an Assistant Legislative Counsel in 1979 for the First Northern Marianas Commonwealth Legislature and then held the following Legislative positions:

House Minority Counsel for the Second Northern Marianas Commonwealth Legislature
Senate Committee Legal Counsel for the Second and Third Northern Marianas Commonwealth Legislature
Legal Counsel for the Senate Committee on Executive Appointments and Government Investigations for the Fifth NMI Legislature
Legal Counsel for the House Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations for the Eleventh NMI Legislature

Judge Wiseman was engaged in the private practice of law in the CNMI from 1984 through 2001. During that time he represented the following Government agencies:

Northern Marianas Housing Corporation
NMI Retirement Fund
Civil Service Commission
Marianas Visitors Bureau
CNMI Board of Parole
Mayor of Saipan
Office of the Mayor - Tinian and Aguiguan
Tinian Casino Gaming Control Commission
Saipan and Northern Islands Municipal Council

Judge Wiseman has been designated by the Chief Judge of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to sit as a designated Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, on an annual basis presently serving his 6th annual appointment under such designation.

Judge Wiseman received an United States Appointment as a Member of the United States Chapter 7 Panel of Bankruptcy Trustees for the CNMI.

Judge Wiseman received his Juris Doctorate from Suffolk Law School in Boston, Massachusetts in 1968, A Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration received in 1965 from Suffolk University, an Associate of Science in Business Administration received in 1963 from Newton Junior College, and was admitted to the following bar memberships:

Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 1989.
Superior Court of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 1979.
Supreme Court of the United States of America, 1994
US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1987
United States District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands, 1979
Supreme Court of the Republic of Palau, 1986
High Court of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, 1979

Judge Wiseman served on the following Governmental Boards & Commissions:

CNMI Tax Task Force, Former Member
CNMI Wage & Salary Review Board, Former Commissioner

Judge Wiseman was active in the following Professional & Community Affiliations.

Saipan Chamber of Commerce, Member of Board of Directors and Chairman of Government Relations Committee
Former Governor Guerrero's Council of Economic Advisors, Past Member representing Hotel Association.
American Bar Association, Member
American Trial Lawyers Association, former Member
National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, Member
International Association of Gaming Attorneys, Former Member
World Jurist Association, Member
Saipan Rotary Club, Past Member
Board of Directors of YMCA of Northern Mariana Islands, Past Member
Gaming Law Review, Editorial Board Member

Judge Wiseman was Published with the following article:

Gaming Law in America's Newest Commonwealth

-Gaming Law Review, Volume 1, No. 1, 1997

Judge Wiseman received Official Recognition from the First CNMI Legislature, as follows:

House Resolution No. 1-56, 1979 in the First Northern Mariana Commonwealth Legislature. In recognition and appreciation for services provided to the community of Rota as a Peace Corps volunteer

Judge Ramona Villagomez Manglona was born on Saipan on February 26, 1967. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley (B.A. in Economics and Japanese) in 1990 and completed her Juris Doctor in two and a half years at the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1996, where she made the Dean's List and Honor Roll.

Prior to law school, Judge Manglona worked in the family real estate management and development business. After law school, Judge Manglona served as a law clerk for Judge Virginia Sablan Onerheim and then Presiding Judge Alexandro C. Castro at the Commonwealth Superior Court. She then transferred to the Criminal Division of the Attorney General's Office prosecuting hundreds of traffic, juvenile, burglary, robbery, and murder cases. She handled the first shaken baby syndrome case in the Commonwealth which resulted in a guilty verdict by the jury. After three years with the Criminal Division, Judge Manglona worked at the Civil Division, advising various government departments and agencies and representing them in civil litigations both at the Commonwealth courts and the U.S. District Court.

Judge Manglona was the Deputy Attorney General in early 2002 and became the first female Attorney General for the commonwealth when Governor Juan N. Babauta appointed and the Senate confirmed her in November 2002.

Judge Manglona was active with the CNMI Bar Association, serving as its president in 2001-2003. She was also active in the formative stage of the Joeten-Kiyu Library.

She is married to Justice John A. Manglona and they are blessed with two children, Den and Savana. She is the daughter of Manuel S. and Luise P. Villagomez and the daughter-in-law of Prudencio T. Manglona and Bernadita A. Manglona.

Judge Kenneth L. Govendo, born in Syracuse New York on January 28, 1945, has been a resident of the Northern Marianas for over 26 years. In 1966, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Alfred University in Alfred, New York. In 1969, he obtained his Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Toledo College of Law, in Toledo, Ohio.

After law school, Judge Govendo became a general practitioner in Redondo Beach, California and worked part-time as a senior staff attorney for the Legal Aid Foundation of the South Bar Association. Upon moving to the Western Pacific, he served as District Attorney in Palau and as Assistant Attorney General on Saipan during the Trust Territory period. He also served as Assistant Legislative Counsel for the Fifth Northern Marianas District Legislature and was legal counsel for the Department of Natural Resources, Board of Elections and Civil Service Commission.

Throughout most of his career on Saipan, Judge Govendo has been a private practice lawyer handling a wide variety of cases. He served as legal counsel for Northern Marianas College for over a decade.

In 1985, Judge Govendo helped organize the Citizens Committee Against Nuclear Waste Dumping in the ocean and participated as an adviser to the Greenpeace delegation at the London Dumping Convention in a successful effort to thwart the Japanese government's plan to dump low level nuclear waste in the ocean 600 miles north of Saipan. He has been active in public land, economic development and environmental matters, both as an attorney and as a commentator. He was also Saipan's first television show host on Cable Forum.

Judge Govendo is married to Domitilia Camacho. He has two children, Benjamin Brice and Roger Syd. He is the son of Sydney and Beatrice Govendo and the son-in-law of Tan Monica Camacho Duenas.

Judge Perry Borja Inos, born on Saipan on September 26, 1966, ascended to the bench on September 22, 2008, making him the newest trial judge in the CNMI Judiciary.

Judge Inos graduated from Rota High School in 1983 and received his BBA degree in Business Management from the University of Guam in 1987. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1994. He was in private practice before his appointment to the bench. Prior to his law career, he was a teacher at Rota High School and a student coordinator at Northern Marianas College.

Judge Inos is married to Debra A. Inos, and they have three children.