Thomas Ignatius Vanaskie (born November 11, 1953) is a former

United States circuit judge In the United States, federal judges are judges who serve on courts established under Article Three of the U.S. Constitution. They include the chief justice and the associate justices of the U.S. Supreme Court, the circuit judges of the U.S. ...

of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * East ...

and former Judge 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 ...

Early life and education, and professional career

Born in Shamokin,

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, ...

, Vanaskie 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 year ...

degree from

Lycoming College Lycoming College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1812, Lycoming College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church but operates as an in ...

in 1975 and earned a Juris Doctor 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 1978. He was a law clerk for United States District Judge William Joseph Nealon Jr. on the

from 1978 to 1980. Vanaskie worked in private legal practice in

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming V ...

, Pennsylvania, from 1980 to 1994.

District Court service

On November 17, 1993, 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 ...

nominated Vanaskie to a seat on the

that was created by 104 Stat. 5089. Vanaskie 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 February 10, 1994, and received his commission on February 11, 1994. Vanaskie served as chief judge from 1999 to 2006. His service terminated on April 28, 2010, due to elevation to the Third Circuit.

Court of appeals service

On August 6, 2009, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

nominated Vanaskie to a seat on the

that was created when Judge Franklin Stuart Van Antwerpen assumed

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

in 2006.President Obama Nominates Jane Stranch for United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, Judge Thomas Vanaskie for United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
, ''whitehouse.gov'' (August 7, 2009). On November 5, 2009, Vanaskie's nomination was considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee. He was reported to the full Senate by the committee on December 3, 2009. Senate Majority Leader

Harry Reid Harry Mason Reid Jr. (; December 2, 1939 – December 28, 2021) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Nevada from 1987 to 2017. He led the Senate Democratic Caucus from 2005 to 2017 and was the Sena ...

filed for

cloture Cloture (, also ), closure or, informally, a guillotine, is a motion or process in parliamentary procedure aimed at bringing debate to a quick end. The cloture procedure originated in the French National Assembly, from which the name is taken. ' ...

on Vanaskie's nomination on April 15, 2010. The Senate confirmed Vanaskie on April 21, 2010 by a 77–20 vote. He received his judicial commission on April 26, 2010. Vanaskie assumed

on November 30, 2018. He retired from active service on January 2, 2019.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanaskie, Thomas Ignatius 1953 births 21st-century American judges Dickinson School of Law alumni Living people Lycoming College alumni Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania People from Shamokin, Pennsylvania United States court of appeals judges appointed by Barack Obama United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton 20th-century American judges