Chad F. Kenney
Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Assumed office
October 24, 2018
Appointed byDonald Trump
Preceded byL. Felipe Restrepo
President Judge of the Delaware County Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas
In office
June 2012 – June 2017
Preceded byJoseph Cronin
Succeeded byKevin F. Kelly
Judge of the Delaware County Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas
In office
August 22, 2003 – October 24, 2018
Appointed byEd Rendell
Sheriff of Delaware County, Pennsylvania
In office
1998–2003
Preceded byAnn A. Osborne
Succeeded byJoseph F. McGinn
Personal details
Born
Chad Francis Kenney Sr.

(1955-08-08) August 8, 1955
Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, U.S.
EducationVillanova University (BA)
Temple University (JD)

Chad Francis Kenney Sr. (born August 8, 1955) is a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He was previously a Judge of the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas.

Biography

Kenney earned his Bachelor of Arts, cum laude, from Villanova University and his Juris Doctor from the Temple University Beasley School of Law where he was a member of the Temple Law Review.

He began his legal career in 1980 as a civil litigator and later entered general practice. From 1981 to 1983, he was a central legal staff lawyer for the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.[1] He practiced in Delaware County and Philadelphia as an associate, partner, and a solo practitioner, in both large and small firms. Prior to his election to the bench, Kenney was elected twice as Delaware County Sheriff. From 1996 to 2003, he served as a Pennsylvania State Republican Committee member.[2] From 2003 to 2018, he served as a Judge of the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas. During his time on the state bench, Kenney presided over cases in the family, criminal, civil, and orphans' sections. In 2012, his judicial colleagues elected him to serve a five-year term as the President Judge.[3] He stepped down in 2017 after his term ended.[4]

Federal judicial service

On December 20, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Kenney 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 L. Felipe Restrepo, who was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on January 13, 2016.[5] On May 9, 2018, a hearing on his nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee.[6] On June 7, 2018, his nomination was reported out of committee by voice vote.[7] On October 11, 2018, his nomination was confirmed by voice vote.[8] He received his judicial commission on October 24, 2018.[9]

Notable cases

In March 2019, Kenney dismissed a class action lawsuit against a landfill in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, ruling that "residents didn't provide any arguments to prove that Bethlehem Landfill Co. has an obligation to protect neighboring landowners from bad smells or other nuisance conditions."[10][11]

In May 2019, Kenney awarded $33,000 in damages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) for violating do-not-call requests. The plaintiff, James Everett Shelton, regularly brings lawsuits alleging violations of the TCPA, which allows $500 - $1500 in damages per call. [12][13]

In June 2019, Kenney denied a request by a Pennsylvania abortion clinic to ban a man engaged in sidewalk counseling from the street outside the clinic "while the court determines if he and another demonstrator have violated a federal law against impeding access to reproductive health care."[14][15] The abortion clinic and the demonstrators eventually reached a settlement agreement.[16]

In March 2022, Kenney ruled a provision in the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct which barred attorneys from engaging in harassment and discrimination as unconstitutional and prohibited on First Amendment free speech grounds.[17]

References

  1. ↑ https://ballotpedia.org/Chad_F._Kenney,_Sr.
  2. ↑ "Judge Chad Kenney – Nominee for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania". Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  3. ↑ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Ninth Wave of Judicial Nominees and Tenth Wave of United States Attorney Nominees". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved April 3, 2018 – via National Archives.
  4. ↑ "Judge Kevin Kelly sworn in as new president judge in Delco". Retrieved April 3, 2018.
  5. ↑ "Eight Nominations Sent to the Senate Today". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved April 3, 2018 – via National Archives.
  6. ↑ "Nominations - United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary". www.judiciary.senate.gov. May 9, 2018.
  7. ↑ Results of Executive Business Meeting – June 7, 2018, Senate Judiciary Committee
  8. ↑ "PN1335 — Chad F. Kenney — The Judiciary". United States Senate. December 20, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
  9. ↑ Chad F. Kenney at the Biographical Directory of Federal Judges, a publication of the Federal Judicial Center.
  10. ↑ "Bethlehem landfill isn't obligated to protect neighbors from bad odors, judge rules". Penn Record. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Waste Connections wins landfill nuisance lawsuit in Pennsylvania". Waste Dive. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  12. ↑ "King of Prussia man, 23, wins $33,000 after suing over illegal sales calls". Reading Eagle. May 13, 2019. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  13. ↑ Malfitano, Nicholas. "Money piles up for serial TCPA lawsuit-filer from King of Prussia; This week's trial looks like a win". pennrecord.com. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Judge denies Allentown Women's Center's request to ban 'sidewalk counselor'". The Morning Call. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
  15. ↑ Miller, Rudy (July 1, 2019). "Protester is allowed to continue 'sidewalk counseling' outside Bethlehem area abortion clinic". lehighvalleylive.com. Retrieved July 20, 2019.
  16. ↑ lehighvalleylive.com, Rudy Miller | For (December 6, 2019). "Bethlehem area abortion clinic settles case with 'sidewalk counselors'". lehighvalleylive. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  17. ↑ Volokh, Eugene (March 24, 2022). "Court Strikes Down Pennsylvania Lawyer Speech Code". Reason_(magazine). Retrieved March 24, 2022.
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