Puerto Rican jurist, Miriam Naveira, Died at 83

  Law

Miriam Naveira Merly was born on July 28, 1934, in Santurce, Puerto Rico and died on April 15, 2018.

She as a Puerto Rican jurist.

Miriam Naveira served in the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico from 1985 to 2004.

She was the first woman to serve on the court as well as the first female Chief Justice (2003-2004).

She was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1985 by Governor Rafael Hernández Colón, becoming the first woman on that court. During her tenure, Naveira was known as a pragmatic and moderate justice.

When she retired of Chief Justice José Andreu García in 2003, Governor Sila Calderón elevated Justice Naveira to the post of Chief Justice.

But, her tenure lasted only seven months since the Constitution of Puerto Rico states that Supreme Court Justices must retire at the age of seventy.

Naveira was succeeded by her colleague Federico Hernández Denton.

Naveira’s daughter Miriam Rodón Naveira is an environmental scientist working at the federal government of the United States which was awarded a Silver Medal for Superior Service and a Suzanne Olive EEO and Diversity Award both by the EPA.

Naveira was also the first Hispanic woman to serve as branch chief of the EPA’s National Exposure Research Laboratory (NERL) and later the first Hispanic woman to become deputy director of NERL’s Environmental Sciences Division.

He died at 83 years old.

.