Maite Oronoz Rodríguez

Maite Oronoz Rodríguez (born 1976) is a Puerto Rican jurist and Chief Justice of Puerto Rico. Oronoz Rodríguez is the fifth woman to serve on Puerto Rico's highest court. She is also Puerto Rico's first openly gay chief justice and, as such, the first openly gay chief justice in U.S. history. She is also the third woman to preside the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico and the youngest person to do so.

Oronoz Rodríguez earned her bachelor's degree in History at Villanova University, cum laude, then studied law at the University of Puerto Rico, where she earned her Juris Doctor magna cum laude. She also earned an L.L.M. at Columbia University and haspostgraduate studies in History from University of Puerto Rico, and History and Literature courses from the University of Florence, Italy. She was an editor of the University of Puerto Rico Law Review, and subsequently clerked for Federico Hernández Denton, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico.

Starting in 2001, Oronoz Rodríguez worked in private practice, particularly in the fields of labor law, contracts, and constitutional law. From 2005 to 2008, she served as Deputy Solicitor General of Puerto Rico. She rejoined private practice in 2009, doing civil and commercial litigation. From 2012 to 2014, she served as head the Office of Legal Affairs of the city of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

On June 4, 2014, Gov. Alejandro García Padilla nominated Oronoz Rodríguez to the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, following Associate Justice Liana Fiol Matta's nomination as Chief Justice. She was confirmed by the Senate on June 23, 2014. She was finally sworn in on July 15, 2014.

During her swearing in, Oronoz Rodríguez firmly declared that her "commitment will always be with those who demand justice, regardless of race, color, gender, nationality, social origin or condition, sexual orientation or identity, or political or religious ideals."

Chief Justice

Following the retirement of Chief Justice Fiol Matta, Gov. García Padilla nominated Oronoz Rodríguez to replace her on February 12, 2016. Members of the minority party in Puerto Rico's House of Representatives presented a bill calling for a referendum to amend the Constitution of Puerto Rico to allow the Justices of Puerto Rico's Supreme Court to select their own Chief Justice, instead of being named by the Governor. Three former Chief Justices expressed their support for Oronoz Rodríguez's nomination: José Andreu García, Hernández Denton, and Fiol Matta. After being confirmed by the Senate of Puerto Rico on February 22, 2016, she was sworn in as Chief Justice the same day.