District Court of the Virgin Islands

District of the Virgin Islands
Third Circuit
Judgeships
Posts: 2
Judges: 2
Vacancies: 0
Judges
Chief: Robert Molloy
Active judges: George W. Cannon, Wilma A. Lewis, Ruth Miller, Robert Molloy, Carol Thomas-Jacobs

The District Court of the Virgin Islands is a federal court that has jurisdiction over the territory of the Virgin Islands of the United States. It was established by the Organic Act of 1936. Appeals of the court's decisions are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit.

The court has the same jurisdiction as the United States district courts, including diversity jurisdiction and bankruptcy jurisdiction. The court is not an Article III court, however, but was created in accordance with the power granted under Article IV of the United States Constitution.

The judge of the District Court of the Virgin Islands is an Article IV federal judge who is appointed to a 10-year term. Judges of this court are appointed by the president and subject to Senate confirmation. Judges may serve more than one term, subject to the standard nominating process.

Vacancies

See also: Current federal judicial vacancies

There are no vacancies on the District Court of the Virgin Islands. The court has two judicial positions.

Pending nominations

There are no pending nominees for this court.

Active judges

Article IV judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
Wilma A. Lewis	Barack Obama		Swarthmore College, 1978	Harvard Law, 1981
Robert Molloy	Donald Trump	April 27, 2020 -	Hampton University, 1997	American University, Washington College of Law, 2003
Carol Thomas-Jacobs		April 14, 2023 -

Senior judges

There are no judges matching these criteria.

Magistrate judges

Judge	Appointed By	Assumed Office	Bachelors	Law
George W. Cannon
Ruth Miller

Jurisdiction

The Virgin Islands of the United States (click for larger map)

The District Court of the Virgin Islands has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law as well as bankruptcy cases.

The jurisdiction of the District Court of the Virgin Islands includes the Virgin Islands of the United States. There are two courthouses for the Virgin Islands; one located in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, and one in Christiansted, St. Croix. Decisions of the court are appealed to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals at the James A. Byrne Federal Courthouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Caseloads

Federal Court Caseload Statistics*
Year	Starting case load:	Cases filed:	Total cases:	Cases terminated:	Remaining cases:	Median time (Criminal)**:	Median time (Civil)**:	Three-year civil cases:	Vacant posts:	Trials/Post
2014	1248	322	1570	355	1215	7.7	14	114 (26.7%)	0	24
2013	1254	346	1600	358	1242	11.0	17.1	106 (22.3%)	0	27
2012	1299	348	1647	437	1210	13.8	16.8	116 (23.3%)	0.0	33
2011	1311	433	1744	492	1252	14.6	14.8	115 (21.5%)	8.9	29
2010	1408	437	1845	577	1268	6.7	27.8	167 (29.6%)	0.0	30
2009	1898	371	2269	687	1582	11.5	27.7	228 (33.7%)	0.0	21
2008	1832	507	2339	557	1782	9.8	19.5	555 (46.*%)	0.0	28
2007	1627	525	2152	473	1679	7.4	20.3	515 (40.3%)	0.0	18
*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website and reflect the calendar year through September. **Time in months from filing to completion.

History

The District Court of the Virgin Islands was created by The Organic Act of 1936, 48 U.S.C. § 1611. A 1984 amendment, Pub. L. 98–454, § 706, changed the term length of judges from eight years to ten.

Former judges

For more information about the judges of the District of the Virgin Islands, see former federal judges of the District of the Virgin Islands.

See also

• United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• United States District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands

Footnotes

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