Thomas Vanaskie

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Thomas Vanaskie
Image of Thomas Vanaskie
Prior offices
United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit

Education

Bachelor's

Lycoming College, 1975

Law

Dickinson School of Law, 1978

Personal
Birthplace
Shamokin, Pa.


Thomas Ignatius Vanaskie was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit. He joined the court in 2010, assumed senior status in 2018, and retired in 2019.

Prior to joining the Third Circuit, Vanaskie was a judge on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania from 1994 to 2010.[1]

Early life and education

A native of Shamokin, Pennsylvania, Vanaskie graduated from Lycoming College with his bachelor's degree in 1975 and from Dickinson School of Law with his J.D. in 1978.[1]

Professional career

  • 1999-2006: Chief judge

Judicial career

Third Circuit Court of Appeals

Nomination Tracker
Fedbadgesmall.png
Nominee Information
Name: Thomas I. Vanaskie
Court: United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit
Progress
Confirmed 258 days after nomination.
ApprovedANominated: August 6, 2009
ApprovedAABA Rating: Unanimously Well Qualified
Questionnaire: Questionnaire
ApprovedAHearing: November 4, 2009
QFRs: QFRs (Hover over QFRs to read more)
ApprovedAReported: December 3, 2009 
ApprovedAConfirmed: April 21, 2010
ApprovedAVote: 77-20

Vanaskie was nominated to the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit by President Barack Obama (D) on August 6, 2009, to a seat vacated by Judge Franklin Van Antwerpen. The American Bar Association rated Vanaskie Unanimously Well Qualified for the nomination.[2] Hearings on Vanaskie's nomination were held before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary on November 4, and his nomination was reported by U.S. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on December 3. Vanaskie was confirmed on a recorded 77-20 vote of the U.S. Senate on April 21, 2010, and he received his commission on April 26. Vanaskie assumed senior status, on November 30, 2018. He retired January 2, 2019.[1][3]

Middle District of Pennsylvania

Vanaskie was nominated to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania by President Bill Clinton (D) on November 17, 1993, to a new seat created by 104 Stat. 5089.[1] The American Bar Association rated Vanaskie Substantial Majority Well Qualified, Minority Qualified for the nomination.[4] Hearings on Vanaskie's nomination were held before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 27, 1994, and his nomination was reported by then-U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) on February 9. Vanaskie was confirmed on a voice vote of the United States Senate on February 10, and he received his commission February 11. Vanaskie served as the chief judge of the court from 1999 to 2006. He resigned from the district court on April 28, 2010, upon his elevation to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.[1][5] He was succeeded in this position by Judge Matthew Brann.

Noteworthy cases

Computer hacker's conviction and sentence vacated for lack of proper venue (2014)
See also: United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit (U.S. v. Auernheimer, 13-1816)

On April 11, 2014, a three-judge panel of the Third Circuit, composed of Judges Vanaskie, Joseph Greenaway, and Michael Chagares, vacated a hacker's conviction and prison sentence on charges relating to the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA).[6]

In the underlying case, in June 2010, Andrew “weev” Auernheimer and co-conspirator Daniel Spiller discovered a security flaw on AT&T's network server that allowed them to obtain the email addresses of 114,000 iPad users. Auernheimer emailed the details of their find to several media outlets and shared the full list of emails generated with a writer from Gawker, a news and gossip website. While Auernheimer resided in Arkansas and the servers affected were located in Texas and Georgia, he was prosecuted in New Jersey federal court, which Auernheimer argued was an improper venue under the circumstances. The District of New Jersey rationalized this course of action by saying the email addresses of 4,500 New Jersey residents appeared on Auernheimer's list.[6]

In 2012, a jury convicted Auernheimer of identity fraud and conspiracy to access a computer without authorization. In March 2013, Judge Susan Wigenton sentenced him to forty-one months in prison. On appeal to the Third Circuit, the three-judge panel found that Auernheimer's conviction must be vacated because of improper venue. Writing for the court in a precedential decision, Judge Chagares noted that New Jersey was "not the site of either essential conduct element" of the CFAA—Auernheimer neither accessed nor obtained the unauthorized information in the state at any time.[6] Chagares continued, writing:

“ [E]ven assuming that defective venue could be amenable to harmless error review, the venue error here clearly affected Auernheimer’s substantial rights. ... The venue error in this case is not harmless because there was no evidence that any of the essential conduct elements occurred in New Jersey. If Auernheimer’s jury had been properly instructed on venue, it could not have returned a guilty verdict; the verdict rendered in this trial would have been different.[6][7] ”

Auernheimer was released after having spent thirteen months in prison.[6]

Carl Lewis and NJ Senator candidate residency requirements (2011)
See also: United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit (Frederick Carlton Lewis, v. Kim Guadagno, Secretary of State, et al., 11-cv-3401)

Judge Vanaskie was a member of a special panel of judges, along with judges Anthony Scirica and Thomas Ambro, that determined whether or not Olympic runner and New Jersey Senate candidate Carl Lewis would be allowed to remain on the ballot after being removed by Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno over a residency dispute. Guadagno removed Lewis from the ballot saying he failed to satisfy the four-year residency requirement.[8] Initially, a decision in Lewis's favor was made, and the court ordered his name be put back on the ballot. Judge Scirica dissented from that decision. The defendants appealed, and ultimately Judged Vanaskie, Scirica, Ambro ruled that Lewis's name may be left off the ballot because he did not show that the state officials had treated him unequally with regards to the residency requirement.[9]

See also

External links


Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Federal Judicial Center, "Biographical directory of federal judges," accessed December 20, 2016
  2. ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 111th Congress," accessed December 20, 2016
  3. ↑ United States Congress, "PN 909 — Thomas I. Vanaskie — The Judiciary," accessed December 20, 2016
  4. ↑ American Bar Association, "Ratings of Article III judicial nominees, 103rd Congress," accessed December 20, 2016
  5. ↑ United States Congress, "PN 880 — Thomas I. Vanaskie — The Judiciary," accessed December 20, 2016
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 RT, "AT&T hacker ‘weev’ to walk free after appeals court agrees to vacate conviction," April 11, 2014
  7. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  8. ↑ New York Times, "Carl Lewis Is Put Back on Ballot," September 14, 2011
  9. ↑ Reuters, "Olympian Carl Lewis quits state senate race in New Jersey," September 23, 2011
Political offices
Preceded by:
Franklin Van Antwerpen 		Third Circuit Court of Appeals
2010–2018 		Succeeded by:
Peter Phipps
Preceded by:
NA - New Seat
104 Stat. 5089 		Middle District of Pennsylvania
1994–2010 		Succeeded by:
Matthew Brann





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