James Martin Munley (June 28, 1936 – March 22, 2020) 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

Born 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 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, ...

, Munley received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

degree from the

University of Scranton The University of Scranton is a private Jesuit university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1888 by William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. In 1938, the college was elevated to university status and took t ...

in 1958. He was 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 1958 to 1960. He served with the 30th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division in

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban agg ...

, Germany and became a private first class. 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

Temple University School of Law The Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law is the law school of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1895 and enrolls about 530 students. Student body Admission for fall 2019 entering class was highly comp ...

in 1963. He was a

law clerk A law clerk or a judicial clerk is a person, generally someone who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial clerks often play significant ...

to Justice Michael J. Eagen of the

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme ...

from 1963 to 1964. He was in private practice in Scranton from 1964 to 1977. He was an Arbitrator for

U.S. Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in severa ...

and the Steel Workers of America from 1970 to 1977. He was an Arbitrator on the United States Postal Service Expedited Arbitration Panel from 1972 to 1977. He was an Arbitrator on the Middle Atlantic Expedited Arbitration Panel from 1972 to 1977. He was a hearing examiner for the

Pennsylvania Department of Revenue The Pennsylvania Department of Revenue (DOR) is an agency of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The department is responsible for collecting all Pennsylvania taxes, including all corporate taxes and taxes on inheritance, personal income, sales and us ...

from 1973 to 1977. He was a judge on the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas, Forty-fifth Judicial District from 1978 to 1998.

Federal judicial service

Munley was nominated by President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

on June 4, 1998, to a seat on the

vacated by William W. Caldwell. 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 October 21, 1998, and received his commission on October 22, 1998. 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 January 30, 2009. Munley died on March 22, 2020, aged 83. In 2007, Munley ruled that an ordinance punishing anyone who rents to or hires undocumented immigrants is unconstitutional. The name of the case is ''Lozano v. Hazleton''.

Family

Munley's parents Robert W. Munley and Marion L. Munley served in the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...

. His grandfather William J. Munley also served in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. He is the father of Julia K. Munley. https://www.distinguishedcounsel.org/members/julia-munley/21877/

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Munley, James Martin 1936 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American judges Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas Military personnel from Pennsylvania Politicians from Scranton, Pennsylvania Temple University alumni Temple University Beasley School of Law alumni United States Army soldiers United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton University of Scranton alumni 21st-century American judges