Maurice Blanchard Cohill Jr. (November 26, 1929 – January 1, 2022) was a
United States district judge of the
United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Education and career
Born in
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Cohill received an
Artium Baccalaureus
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
Princeton University in 1951 and a
Bachelor of Laws from the
University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1956. He was a captain in the
United States Marine Corps from 1951 to 1953. He was in private practice in Pittsburgh from 1956 to 1965. He was a judge of the Juvenile Court of
Allegheny County
Allegheny County () is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's seco ...
, Pennsylvania from 1965 to 1968, and then of the Court of Common Pleas of that county until 1976.
Federal judicial service
On May 4, 1976, Cohill was nominated by President
Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
to a seat on the
United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania vacated by Judge
Louis Rosenberg. Cohill was confirmed by the
United States Senate on May 18, 1976, and received his commission on May 21, 1976. He served as Chief Judge from 1985 to 1992, and assumed
senior status on November 28, 1994. He took inactive senior status in 2016, meaning that while he remained a federal judge, he no longer heard cases or participated in the business of the court.
Personal life and death
Cohill died on January 1, 2022, at the age of 92. He was predeceased by both his wives and survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.
Biodata
freyvogelfuneralhome.com. Accessed March 9, 2024.
See also
* List of United States federal judges by longevity of service
References
Sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cohill, Maurice B., Jr.
1929 births
2022 deaths
Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania state court judges
Princeton University alumni
United States district court judges appointed by Gerald Ford
20th-century American judges
United States Marine Corps officers
University of Pittsburgh School of Law alumni
21st-century American judges
Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas
Lawyers from Pittsburgh
Military personnel from Pittsburgh