Ramona Villagomez Manglona
How Judge Manglona rules, drawn from 29 signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
About Judge Manglona
Ramona Villagomez Manglona is Chief Judge of the District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands. President Barack Obama appointed her to the court in July 2011, making her the first person from the Northern Mariana Islands to serve as a federal judge. She began a second ten-year term on April 22, 2024, following her appointment by President Joseph R. Biden.
Judge Manglona's practices and standing orders
The court's website lists no individual practices or standing orders of Judge Manglona's own (checked October 10, 2026), so the court's local rules and general orders are the place to look (court page ↗).
Standing orders for every case in this court
Orders the court applies to all of its cases, whichever judge has them, as published on the court's website (checked October 10, 2026).
- General Order 25-00002: Sealed Documents No Longer Accessible in CM/ECF or PACER; New Procedures for Access and Management of Sealed Matters ↗
- General Order 24-00002: Procedures for Requesting, Filing, and Management of Highly Sensitive Documents ↗
- General Order 25-00003: Policy Allowing Remote Audio Access to Court Proceedings in Civil and Bankruptcy Cases ↗
How Judge Manglona decides
Patterns drawn from this judge's own signed orders. Every observation links to the order it came from.
What persuades
On a Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal, the judge conducted the more searching territorial-preemption balancing test as an alternative holding even after concluding it was unnecessary, so that the ruling would stand on independent grounds if the threshold holding were reversed on appeal.
“Nevertheless, even applying the Richards test, Plaintiff's proffer of providing more facts about how deeply entrenched cockfighting is the CNMI would not cure the deficiency.”
On a pro se inmate's exhaustion defense, the judge read the grievance for substance over form, treating whether the prison had adequate notice of the underlying problem as the touchstone rather than whether the inmate used the exact administrative language or explicitly requested damages.
“Although Teregeyo did not expressly request monetary relief in his grievance form, he did inform the prison of the assault by Marlon Martin and officer's 'incompetence,' which is sufficient to put the prison on notice.”
Procedural preferences
On an unopposed damages calculation following default, the judge independently scrutinized the plaintiff's requested damages and interest rate rather than accepting the request as uncontested, reducing the award and applying the lower federal statutory post-judgment interest rate absent an express contractual provision.
“Because the sublease agreement contains no express provision permitting a nine percent post judgment interest rate, and Unicorn has failed to provide sufficient proof of an express agreement elsewhere, Unicorn is not entitled to its requested post judgment interest at nine percent per year. Rather, the federal statutory rate applies.”
In Shen v. Albarran, Manglona rejected the government's reading that conflated 'applicant for admission' with 'alien seeking admission.' Because Shen sought cancellation of removal rather than admission, she ordered an individualized bond hearing under § 1226(a).
“The Court rejects the Federal Respondents’ interpretation, which conflates the terms ‘applicant for admission’ and ‘alien seeking admission,’ and in so doing, fails to give effect to each word of the statute.”
Cautions
Policy concerns about the CNMI-only parole program do not substitute for statutory or regulatory authority supporting mandatory detention.
“However sensible this line of reasoning may be for policy purposes, the Court is unaware of and the Federal Respondents have not provided any statutory or regulatory basis for treating noncitizens paroled under the CNMI-only program differently from other noncitizens paroled pursuant to 8 U.S.C. § 1182(d)(5)(A).”
Signed rulings
A grounded sample of orders signed by this judge, with the verbatim dispositive language.
“Based on the foregoing, Defendant's Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED and Plaintiff's complaint is DISMISSED with PREJUDICE.”
“The Court finds under the 2016 NMIAC, an inmate need not file his grievance within fifteen days of the alleged incident nor wait to receive a 'final decision.' Even if the 2021 NMIAC were applicable, the Court finds that Teregeyo exhausted available administrative remedies. And finally, the Court finds that Teregeyo's grievance sufficiently alerted the DOC of the problem for which he now seeks redress. Therefore, the Court denies Haddy's Motion.”
“Based on the foregoing, the Court DENIES IPI's motion to dismiss (ECF No. 38) the SAC with prejudice because Plaintiff's SAC alleges sufficient facts to plausibly show that IPI discriminated against them and the proposed class of 107 Turkish H-2B workers.”
“For the foregoing reasons ... the Court grants the motion to dismiss in part by dismissing all claims against the Defendant Corporations (first through third, sixth, and seventh causes of action) and the conspiracy claim against Conrad; but denies the Motion in part such that the claims against Conrad in the fourth and fifth causes of action for conversion and unjust enrichment remain.”
“For the reasons set forth above, the Court GRANTS Unicorn's motion for entry of default judgment, but for the lesser amount of $1,712,082, plus attorney's fees and cost, plus post judgment interest at the applicable federal rate.”
“Accordingly, the Court DENIES Manila's motion to disqualify (ECF No. 122), and the Attorney General's motion to intervene (ECF No. 114) is DENIED as MOOT.”
“The conditions Cabrera describes while incarcerated are reprehensible; however, Cabrera's personal circumstances as presented do not rise to the level of extraordinary or compelling reasons to warrant compassionate release. Based on the foregoing, Cabrera's motion for counsel and motion for compassionate release are DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court finds that Wang's motion is untimely pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 2255(f)(1) and is therefore DENIED.”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff Ping Shun summary judgment on its account-stated claim in the amount of $443,900.50 and its breach of contract claim for the spa services agreement, for the total amount of $443,900.50.”
“For the reasons stated, the Court GRANTS Plaintiffs' Motion for Partial Default Judgment (ECF No. 16) pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 55(b), the Eitel factors, and the Fair Labor Standards Act, see 29 U.S.C. § 216(b).”
“For the foregoing reasons, the Court GRANTS Plaintiff SPLC's Motion for Partial Summary Judgment (ECF No. 13) as to its third cause of action for breach of contract, and awards SPLC partial judgment against IPI in the amount of $267,353.00 in damages plus post-judgment interest.”
“For the reasons set forth above, the Clerk shall enter default judgment: 1) against Defendant Md. Jashim Uddin and in favor of Plaintiffs in the amount of $6,745.90, plus attorneys' fees and costs, plus post-judgment interest at the applicable federal rate; and 2) against Defendants JN Saipan CNMI, LLC, Md. Jashim Uddin, and Nasmun Nahar Fatema, jointly and severally, and in favor of Plaintiffs, in the amount of $175,976.45, plus attorneys' fees and costs, plus post-judgment interest at the applicable federal rate.”
Caseload & timing
From public federal docket records for this judge.
This limited sample covers only the cases represented in the grounded outcomes and does not establish a broader caseload mix. The Genc docket also shows Magistrate Judge Heather L. Kennedy granting an extension of time to amend the complaint on June 21, 2022, reflecting her routine referral work in Chief Judge Manglona's civil cases alongside her own consent-jurisdiction docket.
Pending matters in the official report
Reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Civil Justice Reform Act, as of March 31, 2026.
| 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 | 1 |
| Report | Motions over six months | Cases over three years |
|---|---|---|
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 1 |
| Sep 2025 | 0 | 1 |
| Mar 2025 | 0 | 0 |
| Sep 2024 | 4 | 5 |
| Mar 2024 | 5 | 1 |
| Sep 2023 | 4 | 1 |
| Mar 2023 | 1 | 3 |
| Sep 2022 | 4 | 3 |
| Mar 2022 | 7 | 2 |
| Sep 2021 | 1 | 2 |
| Mar 2021 | 0 | 2 |
| Sep 2020 | 2 | 1 |
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.
How long civil cases take in this court
For the whole of U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands, not for Judge Manglona: median time from filing to disposition of the civil cases the court closed in the 12 months ending September 30, 2025, as reported by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
| Cases | Median time | |
|---|---|---|
| All civil cases closed | 9 | not reported |
| Closed with no court action | 7 | not reported |
| Closed before pretrial | 2 | not reported |
| 12 months ending | Cases closed | Median time |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 2025 | 9 | not reported |
| Sep 2024 | 13 | 8.3 months |
| Sep 2023 | 24 | 15.8 months |
| Sep 2022 | 19 | 11.1 months |
| Sep 2021 | 29 | 6.7 months |
| Sep 2020 | 15 | 9.6 months |
| Sep 2019 | 20 | 12.3 months |
The table leaves out prisoner petitions, land condemnations, deportation reviews, recovery of overpayments and enforcement of judgments, and reports no median for fewer than 10 cases. A district that closed a large multidistrict litigation in the period shows very large counts and long medians for that year. Source: Table C-5, U.S. District Courts (spreadsheet).
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Ezel grounds your drafting and research in this profile: what has persuaded Judge Manglona, and what has not, cited to the signed orders.
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