Julio M. Fuentes Papers

In 2000, Julio M. Fuentes was the first Puerto Rican/ Latino appointed to the federal 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. He was born in Humacao, Puerto Rico in 1946. His family immigrated to the United States in 1950, and settled in Tom’s River, New Jersey, in 1955. Fuentes worked as lawyer in private practice from 1975 until 1981, and worked as a judge in the Newark Municipal Court from 1979 until 1987. He then served as a judge in the New Jersey Superior Court in Essex County from 1987 until being confirmed to the Third Circuit in 2000, after having been nominated for the position by President Bill Clinton in 1999. The Julio M. Fuentes Papers contain biographical and personal information, newspaper clippings about both his high school and college activities, as well as his judicial career. Information on organizations he belonged to and awards presented to him are also documented. Also present in this collection are photographs documenting major events in Julio Fuentes’s life. Portions of this collection have been digitized.