Mark A. Kearney

Mark Kearney
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Incumbent
Assumed office December 4, 2014
Appointed by	Barack Obama
Preceded by	Curtis Joyner
Personal details
Born	1962 (age 53–54) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Alma mater	Villanova University

Mark A. Kearney (born 1962) is a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Biography

Kearney received a Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, in 1984 from Villanova University. He received a Juris Doctor in 1987 from Villanova University School of Law. From 1987 to 1988, he served as a law clerk to Vice Chancellor Maurice A. Hartnett III of the Delaware Court of Chancery. He served as an associate at the law firm of Elliott, Mannino & Flaherty, P.C., from 1988 to 1990. From 1990 to 2014, he served at the law firm of Elliott, Greenleaf & Siedzikowski, P.C., in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, serving as a shareholder from 1995 to 2014. He handled complex commercial litigation before both Federal and State courts.^[1]

Federal judicial service

On June 16, 2014, President Obama nominated Kearney to serve as a United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, to the seat vacated by Judge J. Curtis Joyner, who took senior status on May 1, 2013.^[2] On July 24, 2014 a hearing before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary was held on his nomination.^[3] On September 18, 2014 his nomination was reported out of committee by voice vote.^[4] On December 1, 2014 Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid filed for cloture on his nomination. On Wednesday December 3, 2014 cloture was invoked by a vote of 60-36.^[5] He was later confirmed by voice vote that same day. He received his judicial commission on December 4, 2014.^[6]

First Amendment Ruling in Fields v. Philadelphia (February 19, 2016)

On February 19th, 2016, Judge Kearney issued a ruling in which he held that the First Amendment does not protect the right of citizens to film police activity in a public area.^[7] This ruling is contrary to a consistent line of cases at the Federal and State level.^[8]

References

1. "President Obama Announces Intent to Nominate Five to Serve on the United States District Courts" White House, June 13, 2014
2. "Presidential Nominations Sent to the Senate" White House, June 16, 2014
3. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary: Judicial Nomination Hearing July 24, 2014
4. Results of Executive Business Meeting - September 18, 2014 United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
5. "U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 113th Congress - 2nd Session". Vote Summary: Vote Number 304. United States Senate. Retrieved 3 December 2014.
6. "Biographical Directory of Federal Judges". Federal Judicial Center. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
7. "Fields v. Philadelphia" (PDF). Retrieved 4 March 2016.
8. Turley, Jonathan. "Federal Court: First Amendment Does Not Generally Protect Public Filming Of Police In Public". Retrieved 4 March 2016.

External links

• Mark A. Kearney at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a public domain publication of the Federal Judicial Center.