Michael Henry Sheridan (July 8, 1912 – August 23, 1976) was a

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the

United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania (in case citations, M.D. Pa.) is a district level federal court with jurisdiction over approximately one half of Pennsylvania. The court was created in 1901 by subdividing t ...

Education and career

Sheridan was born in Nanticoke,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, Sheridan received a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree from

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

in 1933. He received a

Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...

from

Dickinson School of Law Penn State Dickinson Law, formerly Dickinson School of Law, is a public law school in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It is one of two separately accredited law schools of Pennsylvania State University. History The Law School offers J.D. and LL.M. ...

(now Penn State Dickinson Law) in 1936. He entered private practice from 1937 to 1942. He was in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

from 1942 to 1947. He was 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 gov ...

of the District of Columbia in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

in 1947. He returned to private practice from 1948 to 1961.

Federal judicial service

Sheridan was nominated by President

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

on August 15, 1961, to the

, to a new seat created by 75 Stat. 80. He was confirmed by the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

on August 30, 1961, and received his commission the same day. He served as Chief Judge from 1962 to 1976. and as a member of the

Judicial Conference of the United States The Judicial Conference of the United States, formerly known as the Conference of Senior Circuit Judges, was created by the United States Congress in 1922 with the principal objective of framing policy guidelines for administration of judicial co ...

from 1972 to 1975. His service was terminated on August 23, 1976, due to his death at his residence at the Westmoreland Club in

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. ...

, Pennsylvania.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheridan, Michael Henry 1912 births 1976 deaths People from Nanticoke, Pennsylvania Military personnel from Pennsylvania Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania United States district court judges appointed by John F. Kennedy Lafayette College alumni United States Navy personnel of World War II Assistant United States attorneys