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Rapadas supports separate US Attorney for CNMI
Chief prosecutor Leonardo Rapadas stated that since before he has been supportive of a move to have a separate U.S. Attorney for the District of the NMI.
In an interview on Wednesday, Rapadas said former U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Alex Munson was then pushing to have a separate U.S. Attorney for the CNMI.
Rapadas said when he was the U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the NMI, he believed that although the CNMI and Guam are only 120 miles apart, there are still significant issues that one U.S. Attorney has to deal with in the two districts.
He said both districts seem similar but there are very different issues covering the jurisdictions so he was/is in favor for a separate U.S. Attorney for the Commonwealth.
Rapadas, however, stated that it is something that people from the “higher up” to decide.
Citizen activist Glen Hunter has stated in his earlier online comment that while he is not at all happy about the removal of the jail term that the court imposed on former governor Benigno R. Fitial, he is glad that Gov. Eloy S. Inos did not grant Fitial a full pardon.
Hunter said he does not intend on finalizing the online petition seeking the recall of Inos.
Hunter said his focus right now is to demand to the federal government to immediately install a separate U.S. Attorney for the District of the NMI.
Alicia Limtiaco is the current U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the NMI. She succeeded Rapadas in June 2010.
Rapadas said Munson was pushing for a separate U.S. Attorney, but he is not aware of U.S. District Court for the NMI Chief Judge Ramona V. Manglona’s position about the matter.
The chief prosecutor said when he served as U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and NMI, he enjoyed running both programs.
“It’s something that should be thought about long and hard because it requires double the amount of resources,” Rapadas said.
