James Knoll Gardner (September 14, 1940 – April 26, 2017) 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 Eastern District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, E.D. Pa.) is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Phila ...

Education and career

James Knoll Gardner was born in

Allentown Allentown may refer to several places in the United States and topics related to them: * Allentown, California, now called Toadtown, California * Allentown, Georgia, a town in Wilkinson County * Allentown, Illinois, an unincorporated community in T ...

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, ...

on September 14, 1940. 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 magna cum laude from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in 1962 and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1965. He was on active duty in the

JAG Corps The Judge Advocate General's Corps, also known as JAG or JAG Corps, is the military justice branch or specialty of the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy. Officers serving in the JAG Corps are typically called judg ...

from 1966 to 1969, remaining a U.S. Naval Reserve JAG Corps officer from 1969 to 1993 and retiring as a Captain. He was in private practice of law in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

from 1965 to 1966 and 1969 to 1970, and in Allentown from 1970 to 1981. He was Solicitor to the Treasurer of Lehigh County from 1971 to 1977. He was an Assistant District Attorney of Lehigh County from 1972 to 1977, and then First Assistant District Attorney of Lehigh County from 1977 to 1981. He was a judge on the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County from 1981 to 2002, serving as President Judge from 1997 to 2001.

District court service

On April 22, 2002, Gardner was nominated by President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

to a seat on the

vacated by Jan E. DuBois. Gardner 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 October 2, 2002, and received his commission on October 3, 2002. 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 April 3, 2017, serving in that status until his death on April 26, 2017.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, James Knoll 1940 births 2017 deaths People from Allentown, Pennsylvania Harvard Law School alumni Judges of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas United States district court judges appointed by George W. Bush 21st-century American judges United States Navy officers Yale University alumni Military personnel from Pennsylvania