Ruggero J. Aldisert

Ruggero John Aldisert (November 10, 1919 – December 28, 2014) was a United States Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Education and career

Born November 10, 1919, in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, Aldisert received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1941 from the University of Pittsburgh and a Juris Doctor in 1947 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He served as a United States Marine Corps Major from 1942 to 1946. He entered private practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1947 to 1961. He was a Judge of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County from 1961 to 1968. He was an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law from 1963 to 1986.^[1]

Federal judicial service

Aldisert was nominated by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 17, 1968, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated by Judge Austin Leander Staley. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on July 29, 1968, and received his commission on July 29, 1968. He was a board member of the Federal Judicial Center from 1072 to 1979. He served as Chief Judge and as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from 1984 to 1986. He assumed senior status on December 31, 1986.^[1] Aldisert stopped hearing cases in August 2014 after 46 years on the bench. His service terminated on December 28, 2014, due to his death in Santa Barbara, California.^[2][3]

Writings

Aldisert wrote a memoir and several books on jurisprudence and law practice, including The Judicial Process (West 2nd. ed. 1996), Logic for Lawyers: A Guide to Clear Legal Thinking (NITA 3rd ed. 1997), Winning on Appeal (NITA 2nd ed. 2003), Opinion Writing (West 2nd. ed. 2009) and A Judge's Advice: 50 Years on the Bench (CAP Press 2011).

Notable case

Aldisert wrote a dissenting opinion in FAIR v. Rumsfeld, 390 F.3d 219 (2004), a high-profile case challenging the Solomon Amendment, a federal law that denies federal funding to colleges and universities that prohibit on-campus recruiting by the military. The majority opinion enjoined enforcement of the law on First Amendment grounds. Aldisert's dissenting view was ultimately vindicated by the United States Supreme Court, which granted certiorari in the case and unanimously reversed the Third Circuit and upheld the validity of the Solomon Amendment.

Honors

In 2005 Aldisert became the first recipient of the "Distinguished Appellate Jurist Award", bestowed by the American Bar Association's Council of Appellate Lawyers. In 2008 Aldisert received the Legal Writing Institute's "Golden Pen Award."^[2][3]

References

Sources

• Ruggero John Aldisert at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.