Arthur James Schwab | |
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| Senior Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2018 | |
| Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania | |
| In office September 17, 2002 – January 1, 2018 | |
| Appointed by | George W. Bush |
| Preceded by | Maurice Blanchard Cohill Jr. |
| Succeeded by | Robert J. Colville |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Arthur James Schwab (1946-12-07)December 7, 1946 (age 78) |
| Education | Grove City College (AB) University of Virginia (JD) |
Arthur James Schwab (born December 7, 1946)[1] is aseniorUnited States district judge of theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Born inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania, Schwab received anArtium Baccalaureus fromGrove City College, Pennsylvania in 1968 and aJuris Doctor from theUniversity of Virginia School of Law in 1972.[1] He served in thePennsylvania National Guard from 1968 to 1978, and was alaw clerk in aPennsylvania private practice in 1972, and to Chief JudgeCollins J. Seitz of theUnited States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit from 1972 to 1973.
He was in private practice in Pennsylvania from 1973 to 2002. He began teaching as an adjunct professor atGrove City College, Pennsylvania, in 2001.
On January 23, 2002, Schwab was nominated by PresidentGeorge W. Bush to a seat on theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania vacated byMaurice B. Cohill, Jr. Schwab was confirmed by theUnited States Senate on September 13, 2002; received commission on September 17, 2002; and sworn-in to office on January 1, 2003.[2] He assumedsenior status on January 1, 2018.
In 2008, thePittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Schwab had the "lowest ranking among federal judges" by 797 lawyers in the Allegheny County Bar Association.[3]
In 2011, he was accused of bias and recused himself from seventeen ongoing cases.[4]
In 2003, Schwab presided over the case involvingTommy Chong's trial for conspiracy to distribute drug paraphernalia (bongs), and sentenced him to nine months in federal prison, as well as a hefty financial penalty.[5]
In 2008, Schwab presided over and was eventually removed from theCyril Wecht federal trial, a case that caused considerable controversy. The defendant, a prominent Democrat in Pennsylvania, alleged that Judge Schwab was biased and the prosecution was political in nature and sought unsuccessfully to have the judge removed. Among the decisions Judge Schwab made was seeking to keep the names of jurors anonymous, a tactic usually reserved for criminal cases where the jurors may be in danger. This was overturned by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. After Schwab declared the original trial a mistrial, he was criticized for not following proper procedures before declaring a mistrial, such as polling the jury which would have determined if the defendant should be retried on all counts or just one.[6] One month later, he was removed from presiding over the retrial. The Appellate court cited a "combative tenor" in the proceedings and hoped for "reduced level of rancor."[7] On May 14, 2009, the new judge in the case tossed out most of the evidence against Wecht stating it was seized under unconstitutional warrants[8] On June 2, all charges were dropped against Wecht.[9]
In 2012, Schwab presided over theWest Penn Allegheny Health System vUniversity of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) case, and in a rare move, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals removed him from case. According toPittsburgh Post Gazette, "It's rare for a federal judge to get yanked from a case, and twice in four years gets everyone's attention."[10]
On December 16, 2014, Schwab wrote that President Obama'sexecutive action on immigration wasunconstitutional[11] in a case involving a Honduran man facing criminal charges for returning to the United States after being deported.[12][13] Whether discussion of the presidential order was necessary or appropriate to resolve the case before the court was questioned in theWashington Post.[14]
| Legal offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Judge of theUnited States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania 2002–2018 | Succeeded by |