Supreme Court Justices

The Honorable Alexandro Cruz Castro, Chief Justice

Justice Alexandro C. Castro was nominated by Governor Benigno R. Fitial to become the Commonwealth’s fourth chief justice on September 13, 2012. Justice Castro served as the Acting Chief Justice following the retirement of Chief Justice Miguel S. Demapan in September 2011. The Acting Chief Justice appeared before the Senate’s Committee on Executive Appointment and Government Investigation on October 10, 2012. Following the Committee’s recommendation, the full Senate voted unanimously to confirm Justice Castro as the Chief Justice. He was duly commissioned that same day, October 11, 2012; Governor Fitial administered the oath of office.

Castro was born April 23, 1952 on Tinian and raised on Rota. He went to Guam to pursue a higher education and then returned to Rota in 1971 after graduating from George Washington Senior High School. He worked one year each as a high school teacher, a police officer, an assistant hotel manager, and an assistant clerk of court. In 1972, Chief Justice served as a member of the Rota Municipal Council.

On July 27, 1979, Chief Justice Castro graduated from the Faculty of Law, University of Papua New Guinea (a British oriented law school) with a Bachelor of Laws Degree. While in law school, Chief Justice went to Washington, D.C. and represented UPNG in the renowned Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.

After being admitted to the CNMI Bar on September 26, 1979, Chief Justice Castro joined the criminal division of the Attorney General’s Office as an assistant prosecutor. Three years later, he became the chief prosecutor of the CNMI. On April 26, 1986, Chief Justice Castro was sworn in as the first indigenous Attorney General. He was instrumental in setting up the Attorney General’s Cup Speech Competition – an annual speech contest whereby high school students from Rota, Tinian and Saipan debate a current legal issue facing the Northern Mariana Islands.

In 1989, Chief Justice Castro ascended to the CNMI Superior Court Bench as an associate judge and in 1993 he became the presiding judge thereof. Nine years later, Chief Justice Castro ascended to the Supreme Court bench where he sat as an associate justice. He also serves as a designated justice in the Guam Supreme Court.

Justice John A. Manglona, born on Rota on June 12, 1959, has been a justice of the Commonwealth Supreme Court since May 2000. He served a four-year term as a Designated Justice in the Guam Supreme Court from 1999-2003. He was also an associate judge in the Superior Court from 1998 to 2000.

Justice Manglona graduated from Father Duenas Memorial High School in Guam in 1977 and received his B.A. in Political Economy from the University of California at Berkeley in 1981. He graduated from Creighton University School of Law (J.D., 1984) and the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law (LL.M in Taxation, 1988). Prior to his appointment to the bench, Justice Manglona was in private practice.

Justice Manglona is married to Judge Mona V. Manglona, and they have two children.

Justice Perry Borja Inos, born on Saipan on September 26, 1966, ascended to the bench as an associate judge on September 22, 2008. He became an associate justice on March 8, 2013, after the Senate confirmed his nomination and he took the oath office as an Associate Justice.

Justice 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.

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

supreme court

The Honorable Alexandro Cruz Castro, Chief Justice