Julia Munley
2023 - Present
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Julia Munley is a judge on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. She was nominated to the court by President Joe Biden (D) on May 4, 2023, and confirmed by the United States Senate on October 17, 2023, by a vote of 52-45.[1] To see a full list of judges appointed by Joe Biden, click here.
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. To learn more about the court, click here.
Prior to joining the court, Munley was a judge of the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania. Munley was appointed to the court by Democratic Governor Tom Wolf on June 13, 2016. She was sworn into office on July 1, 2016.[2][3] Munley ran unopposed for election to her seat in 2016.
Judicial nominations and appointments
United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (2023-present)
- See also: Federal judges nominated by Joe Biden
On May 4, 2023, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Munley to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. She was confirmed by a 52-45 vote of the U.S. Senate on October 17, 2023.[1] Munley received commission on November 7, 2023.[4] To read more about the federal nominations process, click here.
Nominee Information |
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Name: Julia Munley |
Court: United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania |
Progress |
Confirmed 166 days after nomination. |
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Questionnaire: Questionnaire |
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Hearing Transcript: Hearing Transcript |
QFRs: (Hover over QFRs to read more) |
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Confirmation vote
The U.S. Senate confirmed Munley by a vote of 52-45 on October 17, 2023.[1] To see a full breakdown of the vote on the official U.S. Senate website, click here.
Munley confirmation vote (October 17, 2023) | |||||||||
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Party | Yea | Nay | No vote | ||||||
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46 | 0 | 2 | ||||||
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3 | 45 | 1 | ||||||
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3 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
Total | 52[5] | 45 | 3 |
Senate Judiciary Committee hearing
The Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings on Munley's nomination on June 7, 2023. Munley was reported to the full Senate on July 20, 2023, after a 12-9 committee vote.[1] Click here for a list of other nominees awaiting a committee vote.
Nomination
On May 4, 2023, President Joe Biden (D) nominated Munley to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.[1]
The American Bar Association (ABA) rated Munley Well Qualified.[6] To read more about ABA ratings, click here.
Munley was nominated to replace Judge Robert David Mariani, who assumed senior status on September 30, 2022.[7][4]
Biography
Bildung
Munley earned a bachelor's degree from Marywood College in 1987 and a law degree from Dickinson School of Law in 1992.[4]
Professional career
- 2023-present: Judge, United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
- 2016-2023: Judge, Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas
- 1993-2016: Private practice
- 1998-2001: Part-time solicitor, Elderly Law Project, Lackawanna County Area Agency on Aging
- 1992-1993: Law clerk[4]
Elections
2017
Pennsylvania held local judicial elections on November 7, 2017. A primary election occurred on May 16, 2017. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was March 7, 2017. Candidates and recently appointed judges of the Courts of Common Pleas must initially run in partisan elections. Subsequent terms are won through retention elections. Elections for the Magisterial District Courts are always partisan. Pennsylvania allows cross-filing for candidates running in partisan elections. Most candidates run in both the Democratic and Republican primaries.[8]
Incumbent Julia Munley (Democratic/Republican) ran unopposed in the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas general election.[9]
Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas, General Election, 2017 | ||||
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Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
Democratic/Republican | ![]() |
100.00% | 40,396 | |
Total Votes | 40,396 | |||
Source: Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Municipal Election," November 7, 2017 |
Incumbent Julia Munley ran unopposed in the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas Democratic primary.[10]
Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas, Democratic Primary, 2017 | ||
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Candidate | ||
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Source: Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Primary Judge of the Court of Common Pleas," accessed May 16, 2017 |
Munley also ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
Selection method
- See also: Partisan election of judges
The 439 judges of the court of common pleas are elected to 10-year terms in partisan elections. Candidates may cross-file with both political parties for the partisan primaries, which are followed by general elections where the primary winners from each party compete.[11][12] Judges must run in yes-no retention elections if they wish to continue serving after their first term. A separate part of the ballot is designated for these elections, and judges' names appear without respect to party affiliation.[11][13]
- The president judge of each Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas is chosen by either peer vote or seniority, depending on the size of the court. Statewide, all courts composed of more than seven individuals must select their chief judge by peer vote. Those with seven or fewer members select their chief by seniority.[11][14]
Qualifications
To serve on an appellate or general jurisdiction court, a judge must:[11]
- have state residence for at least one year;
- be a district resident for at least one year (for common pleas judges);
- be a member of the state bar; and
- be under the age of 75.
While retirement at 75 is mandatory, judges may apply for senior judge status. Senior judges may serve as such until the last day of the calendar year in which they turn 78.[14]
About the court
Middle District of Pennsylvania |
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Third Circuit |
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Judgeships |
Posts: 6 |
Judges: 6 |
Vacancies: 0 |
Judges |
Chief: Matthew Brann |
Active judges: Matthew Brann, Christopher Conner, Karoline Mehalchick, Julia Munley, Jennifer Philpott Wilson, Joseph Saporito Senior judges: |
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania is one of 94 United States district courts. The court operates out of Scranton, Pennsylvania. When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit based in downtown Philadelphia at the James Byrne Courthouse.
The Middle District of Pennsylvania has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.
The geographic jurisdiction of the Middle District of Pennsylvania consists of approximately one-half of Pennsylvania. The following counties form the Middle District:
- Adams County
- Bradford County
- Cameron County
- Carbon County
- Centre County
- Clinton County
- Columbia County
- Cumberland County
- Dauphin County
- Franklin County
- Fulton County
- Huntingdon County
- Juniata County
- Lackawanna County
- Lebanon County
- Luzerne County
- Lycoming County
- Mifflin County
- Monroe County
- Montour County
- Northumberland County
- Perry County
- Pike County
- Potter County
- Schuylkill County
- Snyder County,
- Sullivan County
- Susquehanna County
- Tioga County
- Union County
- Wayne County
- Wyoming County
- York County
To read opinions published by this court, click here.
The federal nomination process
Federal judges are nominated by the president of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. There are multiple steps to the process:
- The president nominates an individual for a judicial seat.
- The nominee fills out a questionnaire and is reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
- The Senate Judiciary Committee holds a hearing with the nominee, questioning them about things like their judicial philosophy, past rulings or opinions, etc.
- As part of this process, the committee sends a blue slip to senators from the home state in which the judicial nomination was received, allowing them to express their approval or disapproval of the nominee.
- After the hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee will vote to approve or return the nominee.
- If approved, the nominee is voted on by the full Senate.
- If the Committee votes to return the nominee to the president, the president has the opportunity to re-nominate the individual.
- The Senate holds a vote on the candidate.
- If the Senate confirms the nomination, the nominee receives a commission to serve a lifelong position as a federal judge.
- If the Senate does not confirm the nomination, that nominee does not become a judge.
See also
- Courts in Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas
- Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
- United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
- United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, "Common Pleas Judges"
- United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
- Biography from the Federal Judicial Center
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Congress.gov, "PN590 — Julia Kathleen Munley — The Judiciary," accessed May 10, 2023 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>
tag; name "congress" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ PA.gov, "Governor Wolf, Senate Leaders Announce Slate of Judicial Nominations," June 13, 2016
- ↑ PA Home Page, "Julia Munley Appointed Interim County Judge," July 1, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 FJC, "Munley, Julia Kathleen," November 13, 2023 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>
tag; name "FJC" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Note: The bolded number reflects the largest number.
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary," "Ratings Of Article III And Article IV Judicial Nominees," "118th Congress," accessed June 12, 2023
- ↑ United States Courts, "Future Judicial Vacancies," accessed September 6, 2023
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed February 23, 2017
- ↑ Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, "Election Summary Report," accessed November 7, 2017
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Candidate Database," accessed March 20, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Pennsylvania," archived October 3, 2014
- ↑ The Morning Call, "Ban Cross-filing As One Step," January 24, 1985
- ↑ The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania, "In Re: Nomination Papers of Marakay Rogers, Christina Valente and Carl J. Romanelli," November 7, 2006
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 The Pennsylvania Code, "Chapter 7. Assignment of Judges," accessed September 3, 2014
Political offices | ||
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Preceded by Robert David Mariani |
United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
Preceded by - |
Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas -2023 |
Succeeded by - |
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Commissioned in 2024 |
John Kazen • John Russell • Margaret Garnett • Cristal Brisco • Jacquelyn Austin • Gretchen Hess Lund • Micah Smith • Joshua Kolar • Karoline Mehalchick • Kirk Sherriff • Lisa Wang • David Leibowitz • Jacqueline Becerra • Julie Sneed • Melissa Damian • Kelly H. Rankin • Nicole Berner • Sunil Harjani • Leon Schydlower • Ernesto Gonzalez • Susan Bazis • Robert White • Ann Marie McIff Allen • Eumi Lee • Krissa Lanham • Eric Schulte • Camela Theeler • Angela Martinez • Jasmine Yoon • Nancy Maldonado • Meredith Vacca • Georgia Alexakis • Joseph Saporito • Amy Baggio • Stacey Neumann | ||
Commissioned in 2023 |
Kai Scott • Tamika Montgomery-Reeves • Margaret R. Guzman • Daniel Calabretta • Matthew Garcia • DeAndrea G. Benjamin • Cindy Chung • Adrienne Nelson • Lindsay Jenkins • Gina Méndez-Miró • Araceli Martínez-Olguín • Jamar Walker • Ana Reyes • Jamal Whitehead • Gordon Gallagher • Matthew Brookman• Maria Araujo Kahn• James Simmons • Robert Ballou• Andrew Schopler • Jonathan Grey• Colleen Lawless • Arun Subramanian • Jessica Clarke • Robert Kirsch • Michael Farbiarz • Anthony Johnstone • Orelia Merchant • Wesley Hsu • Bradley Garcia • LaShonda A. Hunt • Nancy Gbana Abudu • Amanda Brailsford • Darrel Papillion • Jeremy Daniel • Hernan D. Vera • Julie Rikelman • Nusrat Choudhury • P. Casey Pitts • Myong Joun • Kymberly Evanson • Tiffany Cartwright • Rachel Bloomekatz • Natasha Merle • Dale Ho • Philip Hadji • Rita Lin • Brendan Hurson • Vernon D. Oliver • Matthew Maddox • Julia Munley • Brandy McMillion • Susan DeClercq • Julia Kobick • Ramon Reyes, Jr. • Ana de Alba • Kenly Kiya Kato • Mónica Ramírez Almadani • Jeffrey M. Bryan • Jamel Semper • Irma Ramirez • Richard Federico • Loren AliKhan • Brandon Long • Jerry Edwards Jr.• Sara Hill • Joseph Laroski | ||
Commissioned in 2022 | David Herrera Urias • Gabriel Sanchez • Holly Thomas • Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong • David Ruiz • Charles Fleming • Bridget Brennan • Leonard Stark • Alison J. Nathan • John Chun • Julie Rubin • Jacqueline Scott Corley • Ruth Bermudez Montenegro • Victoria Calvert • Georgette Castner • Anne Traum • Cristina Silva • Ketanji Brown Jackson (Supreme Court) • Sarah Geraghty • Hector Gonzalez • Fred Slaughter • Jennifer Rochon • Robert Huie • Sunshine S. Sykes • Stephanie Dawkins Davis • Evelyn Padin • Sherilyn P. Garnett • Ana de Alba • J. Michelle Childs • Trina Thompson • Elizabeth Hanes • Nancy Maldonado • Nina Morrison • Gregory Williams • John Z. Lee • Sal Mendoza, Jr. • Lara Montecalvo • Florence Pan • Andre Mathis • Sarah A.L. Merriam • Jennifer Rearden • Roopali Desai • María Antongiorgi-Jordán • Camille Vélez-Rivé • Doris Pryor • Frances Kay Behm • Dana Douglas • Mia Roberts Perez • Anne Nardacci • Jeffery P. Hopkins | ||
Commissioned in 2021 |
Ketanji Brown Jackson • Zahid Quraishi • Julien Xavier Neals • Deborah Boardman • Regina Rodriguez • Candace Jackson-Akiwumi • Lydia Kay Griggsby • Tiffany Cunningham • Eunice Lee • Angel Kelley • Florence Pan • Veronica Rossman • David G. Estudillo • Sarah A.L. Merriam • Gustavo Gelpí • Christine O'Hearn • Margaret Strickland • Karen McGlashan Williams • Patricia Tolliver Giles • Toby Heytens • Michael Nachmanoff • Sarala Nagala • Beth Robinson • Omar A. Williams • Myrna Pérez • Jia Cobb • Tana Lin • Lauren King • Lucy H. Koh • Jennifer Sung • Samantha Elliott • Katherine Menendez • Mary Dimke • Linda Lopez • Shalina Kumar • Jane Beckering • Jinsook Ohta • Jennifer L. Thurston • Stephen Locher • Charlotte Sweeney • Nina Nin-Yuen Wang • Arianna Freeman • Jerry Blackwell |
Federal courts:
Third Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Western District of Pennsylvania • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Western District of Pennsylvania
State courts:
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania • Pennsylvania Superior Court • Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court • Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas • Pennsylvania Magisterial Districts
State resources:
Courts in Pennsylvania • Pennsylvania judicial elections • Judicial selection in Pennsylvania
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