Benjamin Joseph Franquez Cruz was born on March 3,1951 and is a Chamorro lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as the Speaker of the 34th Guam Legislature from 2017 to 2018 and as Vice Speaker from 2009 to 2017.
27 Facts About Benjamin Cruz
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Benjamin Cruz was Chief Justice of the Guam Supreme Court from 1999 to 2001.
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In September 2018, Cruz was elected to serve as Public Auditor of Guam.
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Benjamin Cruz was born Benjamin Joseph Franquez Cruz on March 3,1951, in Guam, the second child and only son of Juan Quenga Cruz and Antonia Cruz Franquez.
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In 1960, while in Guam, Benjamin Cruz's mother married Vicente Benjamin Cruz Guerrero.
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Benjamin Cruz went to St John Bosco High School in California until 1968.
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Four months later, Ricardo Bordallo, who had just begun his first term as Governor of Guam, asked Benjamin Cruz to serve as legal counsel in the Governor's Office, where he served throughout Bordallo's first term until January 1979.
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Between Bordallo's two gubernatorial terms, Benjamin Cruz established a private practice and served as minority legal counsel during the 15th and 16th Guam Legislatures.
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In 1984, Bordallo appointed Benjamin Cruz to be a judge of the Superior Court of Guam, where he was then one of the youngest attorneys ever appointed to be a judge at 33.
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Benjamin Cruz spent nine years as a Superior Court Judge with the family court, where he was an advocate for establishing and improving services for juvenile offenders and troubled youth.
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In 1997, Governor Carl Gutierrez appointed Benjamin Cruz to serve as an associate justice of the Guam Supreme Court.
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Benjamin Cruz served as associate justice until 1999, when his colleagues elected him chief justice.
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Benjamin Cruz then served as chief justice from April 21,1999 until August 31,2001, when he retired from the judiciary.
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Benjamin Cruz served as executive director from 1977 to 1983 and was national committeeman to the Democratic National Committee.
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Benjamin Cruz returned to politics after his retirement from the judiciary in 2002 to chair Madeleine Bordallo's first successful campaign as Guam's United States Delegate to Congress.
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Between 2003 and 2005, Benjamin Cruz served as an DNC national committeeman.
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In 2003, Benjamin Cruz was appointed by US Interior Secretary Gale Norton to be one of five members of the Guam War Claims Review Commission, established by the Congress to report and make findings relative to compensation for the victims and survivors of the Japanese occupation of Guam during World War II.
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In 2004, Benjamin Cruz was elected to the 28th Guam Legislature, receiving the highest number of votes for Democratic candidates.
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In 2006, Cruz ran for lieutenant governor as the running mate of former Governor Carl Gutierrez in the Democratic primary against a ticket of former Delegate Robert A Underwood and Senator Frank Aguon.
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On January 7,2008, Benjamin Cruz was the victor in a special election to fill a vacancy in the 29th Guam Legislature left by the unexpected passing of former Republican Speaker Tony Unpingco.
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Benjamin Cruz's victory shifted the majority from the Republicans to Democrats.
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In July 2008, Benjamin Cruz worked to convince Navy Rear Admiral William French and other US Navy officials to ease restrictions on the access of local veterans to the island's only VA Clinic located in a gated Naval hospital facility.
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In 2009, Benjamin Cruz introduced same-sex civil union legislation on behalf of the Guam Youth Congress.
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In July 2009, Benjamin Cruz revised the legislation to provide for domestic partnerships between any two people.
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Benjamin Cruz was later confirmed as a judge and was assigned to lead the Family Court for nearly ten years.
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Benjamin Cruz revealed a longstanding homosexual relationship in a local article published in Latte Magazine in 1995.
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Benjamin Cruz eventually became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Guam and was featured in an article in The Advocate about his homosexuality.