Edwin Michael Kosik (May 5, 1925 – June 13, 2019) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district, which each cover o ...

of the

United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, M.D. Pa.) is a district level federal court with jurisdiction over approximately one half of Pennsylvania. The court was created in 1901 by subdividing t ...

Education and career

Kosik was born in

Dupont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. He received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from

Wilkes College Wilkes University is a private university in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It has over 2,200 undergraduates and over 2,200 graduate students (both full and part-time). Wilkes was founded in 1933 as a satellite campus of Bucknell University, and bec ...

in 1949. He received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

Dickinson School of Law Penn State Dickinson Law, formerly Dickinson School of Law, is a public law school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It is one of two separately accredited law schools of The Pennsylvania State University. According to Penn State Dickinson Law's 2019 ...

in 1951. He was a Corporal in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

from 1943 to 1946 and a Reserve Colonel in 1975. He was in private practice in

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

, Pennsylvania, from 1951 to 1953, became an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

of the Middle District of Pennsylvania from 1953 to 1958, before returning to private practice from 1958 to 1969. He was a Chairman of the Pennsylvania State Workmen's Compensation Board from 1964 to 1969 and became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for the 45th Judicial District of Pennsylvania from 1969 to 1979. He became the president judge of the Court of Common Pleas of the 45th Judicial District of Pennsylvania from 1979 to 1986. Retrieved August 3, 2018.

Federal judicial service

Kosik was nominated by President

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...

on May 14, 1986, to a seat vacated by Judge Malcolm A. Muir on the

. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

on June 13, 1986, and received his commission on June 16, 1986. He assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on July 15, 1996. He was best known for imposing lengthy prison sentences on two fellow judges in a corruption case known as the "

Kids for Cash scandal The "kids for cash" scandal centered on judicial kickbacks to two judges at the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, US. In 2008, judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella were convicted of accepting money in ret ...

". Kosik moved to inactive senior status in February 2017 due to health issues at age 91, meaning that he would no longer hear cases or participate in the business of the court. A month later, he was the subject of a widely publicized missing-person search. He was found alive in a wooded area after two days. He died on June 13, 2019, aged 94.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kosik, Edwin Michael 1925 births 2019 deaths Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania United States district court judges appointed by Ronald Reagan 20th-century American judges United States Army colonels People from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Military personnel from Pennsylvania Wilkes University alumni Dickinson School of Law alumni Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas Assistant United States Attorneys United States Army personnel of World War II