John P. Flaherty, Jr.

John Paul Flaherty Jr. (November 19, 1931 – February 20, 2019) was a justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1978 to 2001 and chief justice of the Court from 1996 to 2001. He retired at the end of 2001.

In a highly controversial case while a trial judge, Judge Flaherty's November 16, 1978 findings on Paul Aitkenhead v. Borough of West View, No. GD-4585-78 in part state: "Over the course of five months, the court held periodic hearings, which consisted of extensive expert testimony from as far away as England. At issue was the most recent time-trend study of Dr. Burk and Dr. Yiamouyiannis, which compared cancer mortality in ten cities which fluoridated their water systems with ten cities which did not fluoridate over a period of twenty-eight years from 1940 to 1968. The study concluded that there was a significant increase in cancer mortality in the fluoridated cities."

Judge Flaherty remained convinced that fluoridation is a dangerous practice based on the scientific evidence and moreover that those who belittle opponents of fluoridation do the public a disservice. He agreed that fluoridation is a legislative and regulatory matter under U.S. laws that govern the practice.