Alfred Laureta

District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands district Retired 1988 · served 1978–1988 Appointed by Jimmy Carter (Democratic) 22 signed orders read

Judge Laureta no longer hears cases. This profile is preserved as a historical record of how they ruled.

How Judge Laureta decides

Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.

What persuades

Laureta treated statutory notice before disposition of repossessed collateral as a fundamental debtor protection and placed the compliance burden on the secured creditor.

“notice of the disposition of collateral has been recognized as a fundamental right of the debtor.”

Laureta allowed restitution despite an illegal employment arrangement when coercion left the workers substantially less at fault than the employer who received their labor.

“A party is regarded as being less in the wrong where he or she has been the victim of oppression practiced on him or her by the other party.”

Laureta granted emergency passport relief after comparing the government's small administrative burden with the applicant's harm from statelessness and inability to travel.

“the hardship the United States will face in issuing plaintiff a passport is miniscule compared with the harm plaintiff suffers being stateless and without the right to leave the Commonwealth.”

Procedural preferences

Laureta deferred judicial review until the responsible agency had acted, emphasizing the autonomy protected by primary-jurisdiction and exhaustion principles.

“The courts ordinarily should not interfere with an agency until it has completed its action, or else has clearly exceeded its jurisdiction.”

Laureta was reluctant to dismiss a case for delays traceable to counsel's personal dispute rather than the litigant.

“the Court is hesitant to levy sanctions against Gower for problems which are not of his making.”

Signed rulings

A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.

Commonwealth v. Rivera
· 1985-07-16
Appeal (criminal defendant) Denied

“Rivera's conviction is affirmed.”

Ada v. Ogo
· 1984-07-27
Appeal (mother seeking paternity and child support) Granted

“The decision of the trial court, dismissing plaintiff' s-complaint, is REVERSED.”

David v. Camacho
· 1986-06-13
Appeal (former domestic employee) Denied

“The decision of the Commonwealth Trial Court is affirmed.”

Request for appellate damages and costs (employer) Granted

“we award appellee double costs to be borne jointly and severally by appellant and her counsel.”

Taimanao v. Kim An Young
· 1985-09-09
Appeal (employer) Denied

“The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.”

Northern Mariana Islands Representative v. Commonwealth
· 1986-06-13
Appeal (United States representative for the Commonwealth) Denied

“For these reasons we affirm.”

Guerrero v. United States
· 1988-10-25
Motion for temporary restraining order (passport applicant) Granted

“It is for these reasons that plaintiffs motion for a temporary restraining order is GRANTED.”

Economic Development Loan Fund v. Arriola
· 1985-06-27
Appeal (secured creditor) Denied

“The decision of the trial court is AFFIRMED.”

Commonwealth v. Atalig
· 1987-02-13
Appeal (criminal defendant) Denied

“For the foregoing reasons, the trial court's decision is AFFIRNED.”

Matsumoto v. Akiyama
· 1987-08-11
Appeal (land claimants) Denied

“For the reasons stated above, the decision of the Trial Court is AFFIRMED.”

Oceania Line, Inc. v. Herman's Modern Bakery
· 1984-07-30
Appeal (ocean carrier) Granted

“The decision of the trial court is, therefore, REVERESED, and the case is REMANDED”

Governor and Office of Immigration and Naturalization v. Bonifacio
· 1983-10-12
Appeal (applicant for permanent resident status) Granted

“we reverse the trial court’s decision, and remand with instructions to direct the Office of Immigration to act upon the merits of Appellant’s application”

Saipan Secretarial/Employment Services, Inc. v. Commonwealth
· 1987-10-13
Appeal (government contractor) Denied

“The Trial Court is AFFIRMED.”

Caseload & timing

From public federal docket records for this judge.

The earliest sampled records included telecommunications, banking, property, and family disputes, but their empty timelines did not support motion-rate or timing analysis.

A historical record

Judge Laureta no longer hears cases. This profile stays available as a record of how they ruled. If you're preparing for a matter, start from the court's current bench.