Alex Robert Munson
How Judge Munson rules, drawn from 10 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
Judge Munson no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled here.
About Judge Munson
Alex R. Munson served as chief judge of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands after his appointment in 1988 and was reappointed in 1998. He took senior status in 2010 and retired in 2025. Before joining that court, he was chief justice of the High Court of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands.
How Judge Munson decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
Munson rejected a filing barrier that treated nonimmigrant workers differently when the restriction had no rational connection to a legitimate territorial interest.
“No rational basis has been advanced for abrogating the right of access to the courts by nonimmigrant alien workers.”
Munson required compelling, case-specific reasons before overriding public access to documents that were integral to the dispute.
“Plaintiffs fear of being the target of criminal activity based on his tax records is not a sufficiently compelling reason to outweigh the public’s interest in access to judicial records.”
Procedural preferences
Munson assessed abstention by weighing the combined practical and legal circumstances rather than treating any single factor as controlling.
“More important than any one factor alone, moreover, is the totality of the circumstances.”
Munson treated credibility and coercion as evidence-dependent questions and applied an objective test absent proof of unusual susceptibility.
“whether police techniques were coercive is objective.”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Borciallo's claims of error as to the valuation fixed by the trial court, and the court's methods of fixing it, must be rejected.”
“For the following reasons, we now affirm in part, reverse in part, vacate in part, and remand for sentencing.”
“Therefore, this court has no subject matter jurisdiction and the § 1983 claim is DISMISSED.”
“AIKC’s alternative motion to dismiss pendent claims for failure to exhaust administrative remedies on the basis of that statute is DENIED.”
“Accordingly, because Plaintiffs are not acting in a representative capacity, Defendants’ motion to dismiss this case for failure to file a written ‘consent’ is DENIED.”
“Accordingly, this case is DISMISSED.”
“Realty Trust’s motion for sanctions is DENIED.”
“Plaintiffs’ Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED; Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment is GRANTED; and, Intervenor Eleventh Northern Marianas Commonwealth Legislature’s Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings is DENIED as moot.”
“Accordingly, the motion to seal is DENIED and the exhibit attached to the complaint shall be UNSEALED.”
“The SMA Defendants’ motion to dismiss is granted;”
“The SMA Defendants’ motion to strike is granted, and paragraph 25 is stricken;”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court DENIES Defendant’s motion to suppress statements”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
The sampled historical matters included civil-rights, labor, contract, property, personal-liability, and government-defendant disputes, but the empty or mismatched timelines support no motion-rate or timing analysis.
Pending matters in the official report
Judge Munson was last listed in the Civil Justice Reform Act report as of September 30, 2025.
| Motions pending more than six months | 0 |
| Bench trials submitted more than six months | 0 |
| Bankruptcy appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Social Security appeals pending more than six months | 0 |
| Civil cases pending more than three years | 0 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2024 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2023 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2022 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2020 | 0 | 0 |
A snapshot on that date: matters listed may since have been decided or reassigned. A motion referred to a magistrate judge is counted for both judges. Motions in multidistrict litigation, section 2255 cases and Social Security appeals are not counted, and a very large three-year count is generally a multidistrict docket. Source: Appendix A of the report (PDF); about the report.
A historical record
Judge Munson no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled here. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.