Ruggero J. Aldisert

Ruggero John Aldisert (November 10, 1919 – December 28, 2014) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Early life and education

Born November 10, 1919, in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, to Italian emigrant parents, Aldisert attended the local public schools. He graduated from Carnegie High School in 1937, then earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1941 from the University of Pittsburgh. However, World War II interrupted his legal studies. He volunteered and joined the United States Marine Corps, serving as battery commander in the Pacific Theater (1942 to 1946), attaining the rank of Major. He then finished his legal studies using the GI Bill, and received his Juris Doctor in 1947 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He married and raised a family, and also became active in the Italian Sons and Daughters of America, becoming the national president from 1954 to 1968.

Early career

Aldisert had a private legal practice in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from 1947 to 1961, handling trials in civil and criminal matters. He re-entered government service by becoming a Judge of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County (from 1961 to 1968). From 1963 until 1986, Aldisert also taught law as an adjunct professor at his alma mater.

Federal judicial service

President Lyndon B. Johnson nominated Aldisert to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated by Judge Austin Leander Staley. The United States Senate confirmed him on July 29, 1968, and Judge Aldisert received his commission that same day.

Judge Aldisert assumed senior status on December 31, 1986, but remained active for nearly two more decades. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Writings

Aldisert wrote a memoir and several books on jurisprudence and law practice, including The Judicial Process (West 2nd. ed. 1996), Logic for Lawyers: A Guide to Clear Legal Thinking (NITA 3rd ed. 1997), Winning on Appeal (NITA 2nd ed. 2003), Opinion Writing (West 2nd. ed. 2009) and A Judge's Advice: 50 Years on the Bench (CAP Press 2011). He also published a novel, Almost the Truth (about the OSS and buried treasure).

Notable cases

Judge Aldisert dissented in an ABSCAM sting case, in which a Philadelphia jury had convicted city councilmen of corruption, claiming that the FBI tactics resembled those in totalitarian Nazi Germany or Italy.

Aldisert wrote a dissenting opinion in FAIR v. Rumsfeld, a high-profile case challenging the Solomon Amendment, a federal law denying federal funding to colleges and universities which prohibited on-campus recruiting by the military. The majority opinion enjoined enforcement of the law on First Amendment grounds (campuses had barred military recruiters based on the military's then "don't ask, don't tell" policy concerning sexual orientation). The United States Supreme Court ultimately vindicated Judge Aldisert's dissenting view which found the measures constitutional; Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the unanimous opinion in Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic & Institutional Rights, Inc.

Honors

In 2005, Judge Aldisert became the first recipient of the "Distinguished Appellate Jurist Award", bestowed by the American Bar Association's Council of Appellate Lawyers. In 2008 Aldisert received the Legal Writing Institute's "Golden Pen Award."