Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Federal District Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie Sworn In As Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge

As one attorney aptly put it, it was an all-around feel good day for the members of the bench and bar in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

On Monday, May 10, 2010 history was made when Judge Thomas I. Vanaskie was ceremoniously sworn into his spot on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals by Chief Judge Theodore A. McKee.

The event was held in Judge William J. Nealon's courtroom, the Judge for whom Judge Vanaskie served as a law clerk at the beginning of his career after he graduated from the Dickinson School of Law. An overflow crowd watch by closed circuit television in two other courtrooms in the Federal Courthouse in Scranton.

This historic event, with Judge Vanaskie being only the second jurist from Northeastern Pennsylvania to rise to such a high level (the other being the late Honorable Max Rosenn), was attended by political and judicial dignitaries, including but not limited to Senator Casey and Senator Specter, Representative Kanjorski and Representative Carney, various Judges from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and the Middle District Federal Court as well as Judges from the Lackawanna and Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas.

After he was sworn in, Judge Vanaskie put on his new robe, took his spot on the bench, and proclaimed that the "American Dream is alive and well" with his rise from blue collar roots to what is now one step below the United States Supreme Court.

For more details on the ceremony, here is a link to an article by Boris Krawczeniuk in the May 11, 2010 Scranton Times: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/vanaskie-takes-the-oath-as-federal-appeals-judge-1.778168.

Judge Vanaskie will maintain an office in the Scranton Federal Courthouse in his new position with the Third Circuit.

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