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Bernard McGinley
Bernard L. McGinley was a judge on the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. He was elected to a 10-year term on the court in November 1987 (effective January 4, 1988), and was retained three times. He was also appointed to the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline in 2009.
McGinley retired from the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court in January 2016.[1]
Education
- B.S. from John Carroll University in Ohio, 1967
- J.D. degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1970
- Basic Officer Training at Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas, in 1971, and was honorably discharged with the rank of Captain from the U.S. Army Reserve, Medical Service Corps in 1976.[2]
Career
He was commissioned as a Judge of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in January 1982, and served in the Criminal and Civil Divisions of the trial court until commissioned as a Judge of the Commonwealth Court on January 4, 1988.
- Law clerk for Robert A. Doyle of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.
- Assistant District Attorney for Allegheny County.
- Instructor of Criminal Law at Allegheny County Community College in 1974 and 1975.
- Chairman of the Allegheny County Board of Viewers from 1975 until 1980.
- Commissioned as a Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County in January 1982
- Served as a member of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges.[2]
Retention elections
McGinley's was retained in 2007.
- Vote to retain: 1,039,215 (62.8%)
- Vote not to retain: 616,828 (37.2%)[3]
Noteworthy cases
Voter ID law
Judge McGinley presided in a case striking down Pennsylvania's controversial voter ID law, passed in March 2012 by a Republican-led legislature. He determined that the law requiring voters to show ID at the polls "unreasonably burdens the right to vote" in the state, violating its constitution.[4] McGinley wrote 50 pages with 50 appendices for the decision, in which he pointed out the state's lack of evidence of voter fraud, contrasted with "overwhelming evidence" that hundreds of thousands of voters lack the required identification.[4] The decision found that a "vague concern about voter fraud" does not justify the burden of the law in question.[4]
The decision reads, "Voting laws are designed to assure a free and fair election; the Voter ID Law does not further this goal."[4]
One burden cited is that the law unreasonably excludes certain types of voter ID, such as welfare cards, school district employee cards, gun permits and Pennsylvania college IDs lacking expiration dates. McGinley wrote, "The voter ID law as written suggests a legislative disconnect from reality."[4] He compared Pennsylvania's law to other more protective laws in other states. While the law calls for a new Department of State ID to be issued without charge or supporting documents, McGinley concluded there is a significant barrier to getting the IDs; one problem he cited was that they were available at only 71 Department of Transportation licensing centers.[4]
Previously, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court briefly addressed the law during the 2012 election season, leaving its status ambiguous. The Commonwealth Court also addressed it, allowing the law to stand for the election, after which the high court asked the Commonwealth Court to reconsider. The law's full requirements have yet to go into effect for an election.[4]
The attorney for Governor Tom Corbett, who supports the law, said they will soon decide whether to file post-trial motions with the Commonwealth Court. He said they would potentially take the matter to the Supreme Court after that.[4]
See also
External links
- List of judges of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court
- Biography of Bernard McGinley from the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Historical Society
Footnotes
- ↑ The Legal Intelligencer, "Leavitt Elected to Lead Commonwealth Court," accessed February 3, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedbio - ↑ 2007 retention election results
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "Pennsylvania judge strikes down state's voter ID law," January 17, 2014
Federal courts:
Third Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Western District of Pennsylvania • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Western District of Pennsylvania
State courts:
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania • Pennsylvania Superior Court • Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court • Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas • Pennsylvania Magisterial Districts
State resources:
Courts in Pennsylvania • Pennsylvania judicial elections • Judicial selection in Pennsylvania
