Hiram Rafael Cancio

Hiram Rafael Cancio
Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
In office 1967–1974
Preceded by	Office established
Succeeded by	Jose Victor Toledo
Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico
In office June 12, 1967 – January 31, 1974
Appointed by	Lyndon B. Johnson
Preceded by	Seat established by 80 Stat. 764
Succeeded by	Juan R. Torruella
Secretary of Justice of Puerto Rico
In office 1959–1965
Preceded by	Juan B. Fernandez-Badillo
Succeeded by	Rafael Hernández Colón
Personal details
Born	Hiram Rafael Cancio Vilella (1920-08-26)August 26, 1920 San Sebastian, Puerto Rico
Died	December 16, 2008(2008-12-16) (aged 88) San Juan, Puerto Rico
Education	University of Puerto Rico (BA) University of Puerto Rico School of Law (LLB)

Hiram Rafael Cancio (August 26, 1920 – December 16, 2008) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico.

Education and career

Born Hiram Rafael Cancio Vilella in San Sebastian, Puerto Rico, Cancio received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Puerto Rico in 1942. He received a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Puerto Rico School of Law in 1948. He was a member of Phi Sigma Alpha fraternity. He served as a Sergeant in the United States Army from 1944 to 1946 and after his discharge became a vocational advisor and psychometriest with the Veterans Administration in San Juan, Puerto Rico from 1946 to 1947. He was a trial examiner for the Puerto Rico Labor Relations Board in San Juan in 1948. He was Chief of the Legal Division of the Puerto Rico Labor Relations Board in San Juan from 1949 to 1952. He was Chairman of the Wage and Hours Commission under the Fair Labor Standards Act for the United States Department of Labor from 1952 to 1958. He was Director of the Labor Relations Institute at the University of Puerto Rico from 1952 to 1955. He was Dean of Administration at the University of Puerto Rico from 1955 to 1959. He was a Professor of Labor Relations and Labor Law at the University of Puerto Rico from 1952 to 1965. He was Commonwealth Attorney General of Puerto Rico from 1959 to 1962. He was Commonwealth Secretary of Justice of Puerto Rico from 1962 to 1965.

Federal judicial service

Cancio served as a District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, then an Article IV territorial court, from 1965 to 1967, appointed to a term of eight years.

In 1966, the United States Congress passed an act reorganizing the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico as an Article III court, with the judges thereof having life tenure and salary protection. Cancio was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson on January 16, 1967, to the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, to a new seat authorized by 80 Stat. 764. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 12, 1967, and received his commission on June 12, 1967. He served as Chief Judge from 1967 to 1974. His service terminated on January 31, 1974, due to his resignation.

Post judicial service and death

After his resignation from the federal bench, Cancio engaged in the private practice of law. He died on December 16, 2008.

See also

• List of Hispanic and Latino American jurists

Sources

• Hiram Rafael Cancio at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
• "NARA - AAD - Display Full Records - Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938 – 1946 (Enlistment Records)". aad.archives.gov.
• Guillermo A. Baralt, History of the Federal Court in Puerto Rico: 1899-1999 (2004) (also published in Spanish as Historia del Tribunal Federal de Puerto Rico)