David Chávez (attorney)
American judge (1897-1984)
David Chávez Jr. (November 12, 1897 – November 3, 1984) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico from 1947 to 1950, and as a justice of the New Mexico Supreme Court from 1960 to 1968.
Early life and education
Chávez was born in Los Chaves in Valencia County and grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He served in the United States Army during World War I. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of New Mexico and a Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center.
Career
Chávez served as mayor of Santa Fe from 1932 to 1934. From 1936 to 1942 he was a District Judge at the First Judicial District in Santa Fe. Chávez C5 resigned to serve in the U.S. Army during World War II and returned to the bench after the war. He served in the Army's Judge Advocate General Corps and participated in the prosecution of 40 Dachau concentration camp guards. The U.S. Army awarded Colonel Chavez a bronze star medal for his service prosecuting Nazi war criminals. He was appointed to the judgeship of the Puerto Rico District by President Harry S. Truman and served from 1947 to 1950.
The public source identifies “David Chávez (attorney)” as american judge (1897-1984). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around David, Chávez and attorney.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “David Chávez (attorney)”, the useful work is to connect “american judge (1897-1984)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5232382. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1897, 1984, 1947 and 1950.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “David Chávez (attorney)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow David Chávez (attorney) primary sources, David Chávez (attorney) archive and David research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “David Chávez (attorney)”?
- Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “David Chávez (attorney)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.