1st Cir. Judge Juan Torruella Dies, Court’s First Hispanic (2)

Juan R. Torruella, a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit who was that court’s first Hispanic member and an advocate for U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico, died on Monday, the court said. He was 87.

Torruella was a federal judge for more than four decades. He was first appointed to the district court in Puerto Rico by Gerald Ford in 1974 and then to the Boston-based appellate court in 1984. He was chief judge of the court from 1994-2001.

“Judge Torruella was a wise decision-maker, a brilliant scholar, and a passionate participant in the ...