1. DISTRICT COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
FIRST ANNUAL DISTRICT CONFERENCE
TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2010
8:00 a.m.- 8:30 a.m. Registration & Continental Breakfast
8:30 a.m.- 8:35 a.m. Welcome
Chief Judge Curtis V. Gómez, District Court of the United States Virgin
Islands
8:35 a.m.- 10:05 a.m. Judicial Independence: Can Judges Provide “Reason Free From
Passion?”
A Case Study in Judicial Independence: The Battle Between the People’s
Will and the First Amendment in Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School
District
Judge John E. Jones, United States District Court for the Middle District
of Pennsylvania (M.D. Pa.)
Does the Concept of Judicial Independence Subvert the Will of the
People?
Moderator: Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of University of
California, Irvine School of Law
Panelists: Chief Justice Rhys Hodge, Supreme Court of the United States
Virgin Islands; Judge John E. Jones, M.D. Pa.; Senator Louis P. Hill,
President of the Virgin Islands Legislature; Charles W. Turnbull, Ph.D.,
former Governor of the Virgin Islands
Why Should Judges Serve as Guardians Against the “Tyranny of the
Majority?”
Moderator: Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of University of
California, Irvine School of Law
Panelists: Presiding Judge Darryl Donohue, United States Virgin Islands
Superior Court; Chief Judge Anthony Scirica, United States Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit; Senator Nereida Rivera-O’Reilly,
Member of the Virgin Islands Legislature; Charles W. Turnbull, Ph.D.,
former Governor of the Virgin Islands
10:05 a.m. -10:20 a.m. Morning Break
10:20 a.m.-11:05 a.m. Appellate Review
A View from the Third Circuit on Virgin Islands Appellate Practice
Chief Judge Anthony J. Scirica, Third Circuit

2. Procedural Considerations in Pursuing a Review on Writ of Certiorari in
the Virgin Islands
Moderator: Pamela Colon, Esquire
Panelists: Venetia Velazquez, Clerk of Court for the Virgin Islands
Superior Court; Veronica Handy, Clerk of Court for the Virgin Islands
Supreme Court; Marcia M. Waldron, Clerk of Court for the Third Circuit
11:05 a.m.- 12:05 p.m. Supreme Court Round-Up
Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of University of California, Irvine
School of Law
12:05 p.m.-1:05 p.m. Lunch
The Spiritual Revitalization of the Legal Profession
Dr. David Hall, President of the University of the Virgin Islands
1:05 p.m. -2:05 p.m. Do All Constitutional Rights Extend to U.S. Citizens in U.S. Territories?
Moderator: Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of University of
California, Irvine School of Law
Panelists: Chief Judge Frances Marie Tydingco-Gatewood, District Court
of Guam; U.S. Ambassador Terence A. Todman; Joanne Bozzuto,
Esquire; Jomo Meade, Esquire
2:05 p.m.-2:15 p.m. Break
2:15 p.m.-3:45 p.m. Bench/Bar Forum
District Overview
Chief Judge Curtis V. Gómez, District Court of the Virgin Islands
Magistrate Judge Issue Panel
Moderator: Andrew Capdeville, Esquire
Panelists: Magistrate Judge Geoffrey W. Barnard, District Court of the
Virgin Islands; Magistrate Judge George W. Cannon, District Court of
the Virgin Islands; Magistrate Jessica Gallivan, Superior Court of the
Virgin Islands; Magistrate Alan Smith, Superior Court of the Virgin
Islands
3:45 p.m. Adjourn