Karoline Mehalchick

Karoline Mehalchick (born 1976)[1] is an American lawyer who has served as the chief magistrate judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania since 2021. She is a nominee to serve as a United States district judge of the same court.

Karoline Mehalchick
Chief Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
Assumed office
January 4, 2021
Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
Assumed office
July 15, 2013
Personal details
Born1976 (age 46–47)
Berlin, Vermont, U.S.
EducationPennsylvania State University BA)
Tulane University (JD)

Early life and education

A Vermont native, Mehalchick is a daughter of George and Rita Mehalchick of Scranton. Her father is an attorney with the Lehnahan & Dempsey law firm.[2][3][4]

A graduate of Scranton High School,[2] Mehalchick received a Bachelor of Science degree in geoscience from the Schreyer Honors College of Pennsylvania State University in 1998 and a Juris Doctor from Tulane Law School in 2001.[3][5][6]

Career

From 2001 to 2002, Mehalchick served as a law clerk for Judge Trish Corbett on the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas. In 2006, she was named Pennsylvania's best young lawyer by the Pennsylvania Bar Association.[3] That same year, she was the recipient of the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Michael K. Smith Excellence in Service Award.[7][8]

From 2002 to 2007, she was an associate at the law firm Oliver, Price & Rhodes in Clarks Summit[9][10] and served as partner from 2008 to 2013.[3][11][12]

Federal judicial service

Mehalchick was appointed as a United States magistrate judge on July 15, 2013.[5][13] She became the Chief Magistrate Judge on January 4, 2021.[14] Mehalchick presides over the Scranton location of the Court-Assisted Re-Entry Program (CARE Court) and sits on the Court's Prisoner Litigation Settlement Program Committee, a program which she helped establish in early 2015.[5] As a magistrate judge, Mehalchick adjudicated cases related to misdemeanor crimes that were allegedly committed in the National Park Service's middle district of Pennsylvania, which includes the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area and the Gettysburg National Military Park.[15] Mehalchick has also served as an adjunct professor at Marywood University, where she has taught Legal and Clinical Aspects of Health Care to graduate students in nursing and health administration.[6]

On June 28, 2023, President Joe Biden announced his intent to nominate Mehalchick to serve as a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.[11] Mehalchick was recommended to the White House by Pennsylvania senators Bob Casey Jr. and John Fetterman.[16] On July 12, 2023, her nomination was sent to the Senate. President Biden nominated her to the seat vacated by Judge John E. Jones III, who retired on August 1, 2021.[17] On July 26, 2023, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[18] During her confirmation hearing, Senators Marsha Blackburn, John Kennedy, Ted Cruz, and Lindsey Graham vigorously cross-examined her over her recommendation that Pennsylvania State University president Graham Spanier's child endangerment conviction be reversed and remanded for a new trial, which was adopted by the District Court, then later overturned by the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on the narrow ground that the District Court had not correctly determined whether Spanier was entitled to federal habeas corpus relief. Senators Graham and Kennedy pointed out that 31 of her recommendations to the District Court had not been adopted in full by higher courts, repeatedly mischaracterizing these as "reversals." Mehalchick defended her record by stating that fewer than 2% of her rulings had been overturned by higher courts.[19] On September 14, 2023, her nomination was favorably reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by a 11–10 vote.[20] Her nomination is pending before the United States Senate.

Affiliations

Mehalchick is active in the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Commission on Women in the Profession and is a past president of the Younger Lawyers Division of the Lackawanna Bar Association. While clerking for Corbett, she began volunteering with Pennsylvania's mock trial education program, which operates in multiple high schools across the commonwealth. She coached the mock trial team at Abington Heights High School for two years.[3] She is also a member of the Federal Bar Association and the Lackawanna Bar Association.[13]

Mehalchick is a board member of the Ballet Theatre of Scranton.[5] A 2006 newspaper article said she had raised funds for Lawyers in the Classroom and the Northeast Regional Cancer Institute[3] and had volunteered for the Big Brother/Big Sister program, the Boys and Girls Club, and United Neighborhood Centers.[7]

References
  1. "Questionnaire for Judicial Nominees" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  2. "Karoline Mehalchick". The Sunday Times. Scranton, Pennsylvania. May 22, 2005. p. F6. Retrieved July 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Nissley, Erin L. (June 19, 2006). "'Best' young lawyer returns to her roots". The Scranton Times-Tribune. p. A5. Retrieved July 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Mrs. Michael Flynn". The Scranton Times-Tribune. July 10, 2005. p. F6. Retrieved July 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Hon. Karoline Mehalchick". Federal Bar Association. June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  6. "Karoline Mehalchick | Oliver Price & Rhodes Attorneys at Law". www.oprlaw.com. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  7. "Namedropper". The Scranton Times-Tribune. June 3, 2006. p. A2. Retrieved July 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Clarks Summit lawyer earns award". The Sunday Times. Scranton, Pennsylvania. June 11, 2006. p. B7. Retrieved July 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. Mates, Rich (February 19, 2004). "Ownership of locomotive in court fight". The Scranton Times-Tribune. p. A5. Retrieved July 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Haggerty, James (June 2, 2005). "Locomotive Suit Still on Track". The Scranton Times-Tribune. pp. 3, 9. Retrieved July 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "President Biden Names Thirty-Fifth Round of Judicial Nominees and One New Nominee to Serve as U.S. Attorney" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 28, 2023. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  12. "Oliver, Price & Rhodes". The Scranton Times-Tribune. July 24, 2011. p. H2. Retrieved July 3, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Magistrate Judge Karoline Mehalchick". United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  14. Vigna, Paul (December 28, 2020). "Karoline Mehalchick appointed to chief magistrate Judge of the Middle District of Pa". Patriot News and PennLive. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  15. "Lecture: Crime and Punishment in our National Parks". events.temple.edu. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Temple University. June 30, 2023. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  16. "U.S. magistrate nominated for Middle District judge". The Daily Item. June 28, 2023. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  17. "Nominations Sent to the Senate" (Press release). Washington, D.C.: The White House. July 11, 2023.
  18. "Nominations". Washington, D.C.: United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. July 25, 2023.
  19. Weiss, Benjamin S. (July 26, 2023). "Senate GOP hammers Biden's pick for Pennsylvania federal court at committee hearing". Courthouse News. Retrieved July 27, 2023.
  20. "Results of Executive Business Meeting – September 14, 2023" (PDF). United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Retrieved September 14, 2023.


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