By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
ASSOCIATE Judge Joseph N. Camacho on Tuesday declined to comment on Attorney General Edward Manibusan’s six-page letter urging senators to reject his nomination as the next presiding judge of the CNMI Superior Court, citing restrictions under the CNMI Code of Judicial Conduct.
The code bars judges from making public statements on political matters or on issues involving the executive or legislative branches — a prohibition that extends to commentary about the Office of the Attorney General, which is part of the executive branch.
“Respectfully, no comment,” Camacho said when asked about Manibusan’s letter.
Under the code, judges “must avoid political activity” and may not make public statements that could be perceived as partisan or that relate to political controversies. The rules also prohibit judges from commenting on matters involving officials or agencies that regularly appear before the courts. Because the attorney general is a constitutional officer of the executive branch, the restrictions prevent Camacho from responding publicly to Manibusan’s criticisms.
Manibusan’s letter, dated March 16, 2026 and addressed to Senate leadership and members of the 24th Legislature, urges lawmakers to deny Camacho’s elevation to presiding judge. He argued that Camacho has “failed to properly and consistently apply basic law in his cases, requiring extraordinary relief by the Supreme Court and creating substantial delays in criminal cases.”
The attorney general attached summaries of five cases in which the Supreme Court overturned or corrected Camacho’s rulings, including In re Commonwealth, 2015 MP 7, where the trial court dismissed a sexual assault charge based on what Manibusan described as a “nonexistent age exception.” The Supreme Court found the ruling “clearly erroneous as a matter of law” and said the trial court had “effectively inserted an age-based exception that did not exist in the statutory text.”
In re Commonwealth v. Weintraub, 2019 MP 1, the Supreme Court vacated Camacho’s finding of prosecutorial misconduct, ruling that the record did not support a conclusion of deliberate bad faith. The letter states the trial court’s decision “publicly stigmatized a government attorney without sufficient legal basis” and risked chilling lawful advocacy.
Manibusan also cited In re Commonwealth, 2020 MP 20, where the Supreme Court overturned an “overbroad” discovery order at a preliminary hearing; In re Commonwealth, 2023 MP 5, where the Court found Camacho misapplied the probable cause standard; and Commonwealth v. Onopey, 2024 MP 6, where a finding of prosecutorial bad faith was vacated because it rested on “an erroneous understanding of the law.”
“These cases share critical features,” Manibusan wrote. “Most required extraordinary writ relief… where a judge is clearly erroneous as a matter of law.” He argued that the pattern “harms the people of the Commonwealth by creating delays in justice for victims, increased litigation costs borne by taxpayers, and erosion of confidence in the consistent application of law.”
Manibusan said the cases “provide an overview of the lack of legal acumen in decision-making displayed by the judge in serious criminal matters involving violent crimes like sexual assault.”
Camacho, who has served on the Superior Court since 2012, said only that he is bound by the Code of Judicial Conduct and therefore cannot respond to the attorney general’s assertions.
The Senate Committee on Judicial Appointments is expected to schedule a hearing on his nomination in the coming weeks.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
