Northampton County Judges Pay Tribute to Judge Edward Smith

Blogger's Note: Below is a statement I received from President Judge Craig Dally yesterday, speaking for the entire bench, that laments the passing of one of their own. You can read his obituary here.

"On behalf of the judges of the Northampton County Court of Common Pleas, we are deeply saddened on the passing of our former colleague and friend, Judge Edward G. Smith. Judge Smith embodied the meaning of a public servant both as an esteemed jurist, during his time on the federal bench and this Court, and as a highly decorated and accomplished veteran of the United States Navy, receiving the Bronze Star Medal for his service in Iraq. By playing an active role in the legal community, and the community at large, Judge Smith fostered a better Northampton County. We extend our deepest condolences to his wife Jennifer and his three sons Benjamin, Michael, and David along with his extended family."

Judge Edward Smith: An Officer and A Gentleman

Judge Edward G. Smith was inducted as a Judge of the United States District Court in a stirring ceremony before an overflow crowd at the Northampton County Courthouse on Friday. So many people were crammed into historic Courtroom No. 1 that part of the 600-person audience was forced to watch on closed circuit TV in an adjoining courtroom. Judge Legrome D. Davis, Acting Chief Judge of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, administered the oath of office to Judge Smith, as one of his three sons held the bible. He was robed by his father.

In addition to Senator Pat Toomey, the ceremony was attended by most of the Northampton and Lehigh County benches, along with many of the federal district court judges.

A Northampton County jurist since he was first elected in 2001, Judge Smith is a 27-year veteran of the United States Navy, where he currently serves as a Captain and as a military judge in the reserve component. His service took him to Iraq, where he was awarded the bronze star.

A Republican, Smith was nominated by President Barack Obama as Judge for the Eastern District of Pa. on August 1, 2013. He had the support of both of Pennsylvania's Senators, and was confirmed in a 69-31 vote on March 26, 2014. He was eventually serve in the federal courthouse in Easton. The Eastern District of Pennsylvania is one of the original 13 federal judicial districts created in 1789. Its first judge was appointed by George Washington. Smith is the 96th in what Judge Franklin S. Van Antwerpen called a "long line of black robes" over the past 220 years.

Unlike county judges, who are elected, appointments to the federal bench are for life.

Judge Van Antwerpen, the last Northampton County jurist to be selected to the federal bench in 1987, explained why. Though the vast majority of cases are heard in the state system; "[w]hen we need it, we have the independence of the federal system and its lifetime-tenured judges." He pointed out that it is the federal courts who struck down segregation and who have upheld the First Amendment rights to free speech against comments that the judges themselves found offensive. He called Smith both an "accomplished jurist" and a "true patriot" who "went to the Middle East at the risk of his own life."

President Judge Steve Baratta, who said Judge Smith will be"greatly missed in Northampton County," struggled to find what he called "Judge Smith stories." But the best he could come up with was someone having spotted him an a lawn tractor, in shirt and tie, cutting his grass.

The FBI, who does background checks on nominated federal jurists, was looking for Jude Smith stories, too. One Saturday morning, they knocked on the door of one of Smith's best friends, Attorney Joe Corpora. While Corpora's wife wondered what the FBI was doing at her door, Corpora came up with an embarrassing revelation about Judge Smith, and one he recorded on video.

Years ago, when Smith's and Corpora's children were much younger, Smith came dressed to his house dressed as Barney the Dinosaur and began singing "I love you."

"Do you know anything embarrassing?" asked the FBI.

"He doesn't sing or dance very well," answered Corpora.

Assistant District Attorney Abe Kassis, incoming president of the Northampton County Bar Association, called Smith an "officer and a gentleman" who "never forgot what it was like as a lawyer." He noted Judge Smith's unfailing courtesy to everyone before him, a hallmark of Northampton County judges. "He could sentence someone to 20 years in state prison and still have that Defendant thank him on the way out because he was so nice about it, " he joked.

"Believe half of what you heard," is what the modest Judge Smith told the audience after taking the oath. He thanked Attorney Ray DeRaymond, with whom he practiced for many years before becoming a judge. "He taught me everything I know," said Smith. He went on to say that everything good that has happened to him has been only because of the good people around him, from secretarial staff to the Sheriffs.

Smith is the grandson of Dr. George Smith, a south side Easton physician who also served as Mayor between 1960 and 1968.

Judge Smith Goes to Washington

Northampton County Judge Edward G. Smith, nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, will be in Washington today. He's scheduled to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee at 2:30 pm. You can see his appearance on C-SPAN.

On the bench since 2002, Judge Smith is also a Captain in the Navy who served in Iraq during the surge.

Though he's a brilliant judge, he thinks his most important job is being a father. He must be doing a good job at that because none of his three sons has any desire to be a lawyer.

Congrats to Judge Smith

I am delighted to learn that Judge Edward G Smith, who has been a Northampton County judge since 2002, has been nominated by the President to a federal judgeship in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. If confirmed, he will be the first federal judge from the Easton are since Franklin Van Antwerpen, another distinguished jurist, sat on the bench.

He's a brilliant legal mind and a credit to any bench. But I think the job that's most important to him is his role as father. He's very proud of his three sons, not one of whom  wants to be a lawyer.

They must be even more brilliant.

A Captain in the Navy JAG, Smith served in Iraq at the height of the surge. When my daughter was sent there (for the Army), he always asked about her.

This is good news for Judge Smith.

Better news for the rest of us.

Can Judge Smith Break Legal Logjam at Center & Dewberry?

Judge Edward Smith is a U.S. Navy Captain

Dewberry Avenue and Center Street in Bethlehem, located near Bethlehem Catholic High School, is gridlocked. But it's not the traffic. Developer Abe Atiyeh, Bethlehem zoning and planning officials and numerous angry residents have created legal traffic jams over Atiyeh's seemingly Quixotic quest to establish a drug and alcohol treatment center somewhere ... anywhere ... in that vicinity. Northampton County Judges are now involved. Though they have the power to send someone to his death, it's by no means clear that they can resolve the legal war between the forces of Abe Atiyeh and Bethlehem. But Judge Edward Smith is trying, with an October 5 Order aimed at breaking at least a part of this legal logjam.

This all started when Atiyeh, who purchased 5-acres at the southeast corner of this infamous intersection, received permission in 2007 for an assisted living center on lands set aside for a cemetery. But when he was unable to market it, he asked zoners to let him build luxury apartments instead. Denied. He asked again. Denied again.

At the northeast corner, site of a vacant home, Atiyeh proposed relocating his business offices. Denied. So he proposed a drug and alcohol rehab, a la the Betty Ford Treatment Center. Denied. Just east of that, he proposed converting the vacant Calvary Baptist Church into a drug and alcohol rehab. Denied.

Back at the southeast center, Atiyeh decided to develop those 5 acres with Brookside Drug, Alcohol and Psychiatric Hospital, which unlike his proposed rehabs, is a lockdown facility. More importantly, it's a permitted use. He needed no approval from the Zoning Hearing Board. But his plans were tossed by the Planning Commission at a hearing attended by approximately 80 people, most of them opposed.

"I haven't heard a basis for a denial. Not a single one," said an astonished Blake Marles, a Bethlehem attorney representing Atiyeh.

Judge Smith agreed. He concluded that the Planning Commission "improperly invaded the province of the City of Bethlehem Zoning Hearing Board by making a determination of whether the use is a permitted use ... ." So he's sent the case back, but not to the Planning Commission. Instead, it's going to the Zoning Hearing Board, which has never heard the matter.

Zoners already have two special meetings scheduled on October 16 and October 18 to deal exclusively with other Atiyeh zoning applications. They're going to have to schedule a third.

So far, there is no light at the end of this legal tunnel. But Judge Smith also happens to be a Captain in the U.S. Navy.

Maybe he can order a missile strike.
Judge Edward Smith Remands a Planning Comm's Decision ... to Zoners