[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 25, 2020)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2061-S2062]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

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     REMEMBERING JUDGE JAMES M. MUNLEY AND JUDGE A. RICHARD CAPUTO

 Mr. CASEY. Mr. President, I rise today to remember and honor 
Judge James M. Munley and Judge A. Richard Caputo, who collectively 
served the Middle District of Pennsylvania as Federal district judges 
for over 40 years.
  Judge Munley was a native of Archibald, PA. After graduating from the 
University of Scranton in 1958, he joined the U.S. Army and served 
until 1960. After his military service, Judge Munley enrolled at the 
Temple University School of Law and graduated in 1963. He clerked for 
the Honorable Michael J. Eagen on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania 
before practicing law in Scranton from 1964 to 1978. From 1978 to 1998, 
Judge Munley served with distinction as a judge on the Lackawanna 
County Court of Common Pleas. In 1998, Judge Munley was nominated to a 
seat on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania 
by President Bill Clinton. He was confirmed by the Senate and went on 
to serve the Middle District honorably for over two decades.
  As a Federal judge, Judge Munley continued his family's tremendous 
legacy of public service and dedication to Pennsylvania. Both of his 
parents, Robert W. Munley and Marion L. Munley, and his grandfather, 
William J. Munley, served in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Judge 
Munley has been remembered by members of the Pennsylvania legal 
community as a skilled, good-natured, and fair jurist who approached 
life with a sense of optimism that ``was contagious in the best sense 
of the word.'' In his courtroom and in his life, he was known to treat 
everyone with the same dignity, respect, and kindness. U.S. District 
Judge Malachy E. Mannion remembered Judge Munley by noting: ``What 
defined him most was just his sense of humanity. He was a great judge, 
but he was a greater human being.''
  Judge Caputo was born in Port Chester, NY, and raised in Rye, NY. He 
graduated from Brown University in 1960. After Brown, Judge Caputo 
enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania Law School and graduated in 
1963. He went on to join the U.S. Air Force as an officer in the Judge 
Advocate General's Corps and served until

[[Page S2062]]

1967. After his military service, Judge Caputo worked as a public 
defender in Luzerne County for 1 year before joining the law firm of 
Shea & Shea. In 1973, the firm was renamed Shea, Shea & Caputo, and 
after nearly 30 years in private practice, Judge Caputo was nominated 
to a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of 
Pennsylvania by President Bill Clinton in 1997. After being confirmed 
by the Senate, he honorably served on the Federal bench in the Middle 
District for over two decades.
  Judge Caputo was known as a strong and fair jurist who treated 
everyone with deep respect in his courtroom. He strongly believed in 
balancing individual rights with the needs of a well-ordered society, 
and some in the Pennsylvania legal community have remembered him as a 
judge who was not afraid to depart from Federal sentencing guidelines 
when he found them to be too harsh. He was deeply committed to the 
judiciary, as evidenced by the fact that he continued to hear cases up 
until just a few months prior to his death. He believed that the 
judiciary was the heart of our democracy. Chief U.S. District Judge 
Christopher Conner remembered Judge Caputo as a `` `judge's judge'--a 
strong, direct and erudite jurist,'' who made ``extraordinary 
contributions to the Wilkes-Barre vicinage, to our entire court, and to 
our country.''
  At a time when our Nation faces unprecedented challenges in 
responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, Judge Munley and Judge Caputo are 
important reminders of the intellect, compassion, and fairness that 
have guided our Nation since its founding. They will be missed 
tremendously, but their legacy will continue to inspire countless 
Pennsylvanians and individuals throughout our country.

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