Meet the Judge: The Honorable Nitza Quiñones Alejandro

Meet Nitza Quiñones Alejandro, a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Born in Puerto Rico, she grew up in a military family and attended the University of Puerto Rico, where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, cum laude, in 1972. In 1975, she earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law. She began her career as a staff attorney for Community Legal Services, Inc. in Philadelphia from 1975 to 1977.

Quiñones Alejandro was a judge on the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas from 1991 to 2013, presiding over both civil and criminal matters. She was the first Hispanic woman to serve on that court and retained her seat in the elections of 2001 and 2011. In 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Quiñones Alejandro to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, making her the first Latina lesbian to be appointed to serve as a federal judge.

After years of service as a state court judge, Quiñones Alejandro decided to pursue her aspiration of a federal judicial appointment. She felt that her years on the state bench and fifteen years of experience as a federal employee made her ideally suited for the federal bench. After a few unsuccessful attempts, she applied for consideration again in 2012. At that time, she decided to explicitly disclose her sexual orientation to the nomination committee. For the first time, it felt safe enough, or maybe she felt brave enough, to do so.

When she learned of her nomination, she was excited but also felt a mix of emotions. She had never defined herself by her sexual orientation, yet the headlines focused on that fact. In the story of her life, she viewed those traits as facts to be mentioned somewhere in the narrative, but not in the title. Nevertheless, she was proud of her accomplishments and qualifications and knew that she had earned this moment through a lifetime of hard work.

When Quiñones Alejandro made the transition to the federal bench, she was nervous about how she would be received. The newspaper had made a first impression for her. But her anxieties were put to rest when she attended her District’s Judicial Retreat with her partner, Jenny, and her new colleagues were sincerely interested in getting to know both of them.

Quiñones Alejandro is optimistic that the bench, and the judiciaries, law offices, and state bars across the country, will continue to diversify. She hopes that learning of her challenges and successes will leave future generations excited about how far we have come and the potential that lies ahead.

Click here to read “A PERSONAL ESSAY” by Nitza Quiñones Alejandro

Please note that this article is for biographical and informational purposes only, and is not sanctioned or approved by Judge Nitza Quiñones Alejandro