The judge in the case
The other man to garner almost as much attention as fallen pol Vince Fumo during the former state senator's drawn-out court battle was the man who heard his case, U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter.
The other man to garner almost as much attention as fallen pol Vince Fumo during the former state senator's drawn-out court battle was the man who heard his case, U.S. District Judge Ronald Buckwalter.
Fumo supporters applauded while critics booed Buckwalter's 55-month sentence for Fumo, but what do we know about the Lancaster-born judge, who's seen by some as a lenient sentencer?
Born Dec. 11, 1936, Buckwalter attended Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, where he received his undergraduate degree in 1958. Four years later, he earned a law degree from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
He returned to Lancaster the following year and went into private practice until 1977, when he was elected Lancaster County district attorney. Three years later, he was elected to Common Pleas Court.
He was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 1990 by President George H.W. Bush, and assumed senior status in 2003.
In a 1999 ruling, Buckwalter came under fire in academic and sports circles when his ruling would have prohibited the NCAA from disqualifying would-be collegiate freshmen athletes with poor academic scores.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to stay Buckwalter's order. *