Theodore Alexander McKee (born June 5, 1947, in

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

) is a Senior United States circuit judge of the

United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * East ...

. He previously served on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania.

Education

McKee received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree from the

State University of New York at Cortland State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

in 1969 and earned his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

from Syracuse University College of Law where he was an honor student graduating in 1975 ''magna cum laude'' and as a member of the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif is an honor society for United States law school graduates. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, ...

and the Justinian Honor Society.

Legal career

McKee was in private practice in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

from 1975 to 1977. From 1977 to 1980 he served as an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal go ...

in the

Eastern District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, E.D. Pa.) is one of the original 13 federal judiciary districts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789. It originally sat in Independence Hall in Phi ...

. He began in the General Crimes Unit, moved to the Narcotics and Firearms Unit, and finally worked in the Political Corruption Unit. In his first year as an AUSA, McKee investigated allegations of

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to ...

before a special grand jury, as part of a nationwide probe into police brutality by the

United States Civil Rights Commission The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) is a bipartisan, independent commission of the United States federal government, created by the Civil Rights Act of 1957 during the Eisenhower administration, that is charged with the responsibility for ...

. In 1980, McKee became a Deputy City Solicitor in the Philadelphia City Solicitor's office, where he remained until 1983 when he became General Counsel for the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

Judicial career

State court judicial career

In 1984, McKee was elected as a Judge on the Philadelphia

Court of Common Pleas A court of common pleas is a common kind of court structure found in various common law jurisdictions. The form originated with the Court of Common Pleas at Westminster, which was created to permit individuals to press civil grievances against one ...

, where he served until 1994.

Federal judicial service

President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

nominated Judge McKee to the

on March 22, 1994, to a seat vacated by Judge

A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. Aloysius Leon Higginbotham Jr. (February 25, 1928 – December 14, 1998) was an American civil rights advocate, historian, presidential adviser, and federal court judge. From 1990 to 1991, he served as chief judge of the United States Court of ...

McKee was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...

on June 8, 1994, and received his commission on June 9, 1994. He served as Chief Judge from May 6, 2010 to October 1, 2016. In July 2018, McKee wrote for a unanimous panel when it upheld a

Boyertown Area School District The Boyertown Area School District is a large public school district which covers portions of Berks and Montgomery Counties in southeastern Pennsylvania. When the Boyertown Area School District was formed in 1953 it was one of the largest in the ...

policy guaranteeing transgender students use of their preferred locker room. In 2021, he announced that he is going to assume

senior status Senior status is a form of semi- retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of service as a federal judge must be at leas ...

after being on the federal bench for 27 years. He assumed senior status on October 20, 2022 when his successor received commission.

Law reform work

McKee is an elected member of the

American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and its adaptation to changing social needs ...

and serves as an Adviser on ALI's project to revise the Sentencing provisions of the Model Penal Code.

References

External links

* 1947 births 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American judges 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American judges African-American judges Assistant United States Attorneys Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit Living people Lawyers from Rochester, New York Syracuse University College of Law alumni United States court of appeals judges appointed by Bill Clinton {{US-federal-judge-stub