United States District Court for the District of the Virgin Islands

The District Court of the Virgin Islands (in case citations, D.V.I.) is a United States territorial court with jurisdiction over federal and diversity actions in the United States Virgin Islands, a United States territory and more specifically an insular area that is an unincorporated organized territory. The court sits in both St. Croix and St. Thomas. Unlike their counterparts on other United States district courts, judges on the District Court of the Virgin Islands do not have life tenure, as the court is not an Article III court. Instead, the court is an Article IV court, created pursuant to Congress's Article IV, Section 3 powers. Judges serve for terms of ten years at a time, and until a successor is chosen and qualified. Appeals of the court's decisions are taken to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia.

District Court of the Virgin Islands
(D.V.I.)
Location	Charlotte Amalie More locations Christiansted
Appeals to	Third Circuit
Established	1936
Authority	Article IV tribunal
Created by	48 U.S.C. §§ 1611–1617
Composition method	Presidential nomination with Senate advice and consent
Judges	2
Judge term length	10 years (and until successor is chosen and qualified)
Chief Judge	Robert A. Molloy
Officers of the court
U.S. Attorney	Delia L. Smith
www.vid.uscourts.gov

The District Court used to have jurisdiction over all local civil actions brought in the Virgin Islands, but in 1976 the Virgin Islands Legislature—as allowed by the Revised Organic Act of 1954—gave a portion of this jurisdiction to the former Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands, at that time the local trial court. The jurisdiction of the Territorial Court was expanded to all civil actions in 1990. Similarly, the Legislature gave the Territorial Court jurisdiction over certain criminal actions brought under Virgin Islands law in 1985 and expanded that jurisdiction to all criminal cases in 1993, although the United States Attorney may still bring certain criminal actions in the District Court in some circumstances. In 2004 the Territorial Court was renamed the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands.

Before the creation of the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands in 2007, the Appellate Division of the District Court heard appeals from the Superior Court in three-judge panels. From 2007, the Supreme Court hears these appeals exclusively, with its decisions subject to review by the United States Supreme Court if that court decides to grant certiorari.

The current United States attorney for the District of the Virgin Islands is Delia L. Smith.

Current judges

As of February 15, 2025^[update]:

#	Title	Judge	Duty station	Born	Term of service			Appointed by
					Active	Chief	Senior
12	Chief Judge	Robert A. Molloy	Charlotte Amalie	1975	2020–present	2021–present	—	Trump
13	District Judge	vacant	—	—	—	—	—	—
10	Senior Judge	Curtis V. Gómez	inactive	1953	2005–2020	2005–2013	2020–present	G.W. Bush
11	Senior Judge	Wilma A. Lewis	Christiansted	1956	2011–2025	2013–2021	2025–present	Obama

Vacancy and pending nomination

Seat	Prior judge's duty station	Seat last held by	Vacancy reason	Date of vacancy	Nominee	Date of nomination
—	Christiansted	Wilma A. Lewis	Senior status	February 15, 2025	–	–

Former judges

#	Judge	State	Born–died	Active service	Chief Judge	Senior status	Appointed by	Reason for termination
1	George Philip Jones	VI	1877–1954	1936–1937	—	—	F. Roosevelt	expiration of recess appointment
2	William H. Hastie	VI	1904–1976	1937–1939	—	—	F. Roosevelt	resignation
3		VI	1892–1980	1939–1957	—	—	F. Roosevelt	retirement
4	Walter A. Gordon	VI	1894–1976	1958–1968	—	—	Eisenhower	expiration of term
5		VI	1919–1999	1969–1990	1971–1988	1990–1993	Nixon	retirement
6		VI	1916–1980	1971–1980	—	—	Nixon	death
7		VI	1932–1989	1981–1989	1988–1989	—	Reagan	death
8		VI	1938–	1992–2005	1992–1999	—	G.H.W. Bush	expiration of term
9	Raymond L. Finch	VI	1940–2023	1994–2008	1999–2005	2008–2018	Clinton	retirement

See also

• Courts of the United States
• List of current United States district judges
• List of United States federal courthouses in the Virgin Islands
• Politics of the United States Virgin Islands

References

1. "48 U.S. Code § 1614 – Judges of District Court". Legal Information Institute. Cornell Law School. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
2. 48 U.S.C. § 1614
3. 48 U.S.C. § 1613a
4. "Virgin Islands Law Component Outline Material" (PDF). Virgin Islands Supreme Court. March 2018. p. v. Retrieved May 16, 2023.
5. Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America 1939.
6. "Minnesota Democracy Is Proud of Its Leaders", The Saint Paul Globe (August 3, 1902), p. 23, 28.
7. "George P. Jones, 1904 Convention Delegate, Dies", Star Tribune (December 14, 1954), p. 20.
8. Studies in the History of the United States Courts of the Third Circuit.
9. "Judge Almeric Christian Dies". stjohnsource.com. September 1999. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
10. "PN725—Thomas K. Moore—The Judiciary". www.congress.gov. June 26, 1992. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
11. The Federal reporter. Second series, Volume 568.
12. "Obituary: Warren H. Young", New York Daily News (June 7, 1980), p. 15.
13. "PN815—David V. O'Brien—The Judiciary". www.congress.gov. November 5, 1981. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
14. "PN1220—Raymond L. Finch—The Judiciary". www.congress.gov. May 6, 1994. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
15. "David V. O'Brien, Federal Judge, 57". The New York Times. December 26, 1989. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
16. "Thomas K Moore, United States District Court for the District of the US Virgin Islands: Profile and Biography". Bloomberg.com.

External links

• District Court of the Virgin Islands