Richard Paul Conaboy (June 12, 1925 – November 9, 2018) was an American jurist who was

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, which each cover one U.S. state or, in some cases, a portion of a state. Each district cou ...

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 ...

. He served as an air corps sergeant in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

from 1945 to 1947 before receiving a law degree from the

Columbus School of Law The Columbus School of Law, also known as Catholic Law or CUA Law, is the law school of the Catholic University of America, a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. More than 400 Juris Doctor students attend Catholic ...

. He spent some time in private practice before serving in state legal and judicial roles in Pennsylvania. He was nominated to the Middle District Court by

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 19 ...

in 1979 and served as its chief judge from 1989 to 1992. He was chair of the

United States Sentencing Commission The United States Sentencing Commission is an independent agency of the judicial branch of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for articulating the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines for the federal courts. The Commission promulgat ...

from 1994 to 1998.

Education and early career

Born in

Scranton Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming Vall ...

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, Ma ...

, Conaboy 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

University of Scranton The University of Scranton is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1888 by William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. In 1938, the college was ele ...

in 1945 and was an Air Corps Sergeant in the

from 1945 to 1947. He received a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of ...

from the

at the

Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U. ...

in 1950. As a student Conaboy was a member of the

Alpha Sigma Lambda Alpha Sigma Lambda () is the oldest and largest national honor society for Non-traditional students (typically adults also engaged in professional careers) who achieve and maintain outstanding scholastic standards and leadership characteristics ...

and

Pi Sigma Alpha Pi Sigma Alpha ( or PSA), the National Political Science Honor Society, is the only honor society for college and university students of political and social sciences in the United States. Its purpose is to recognize and promote high academic ...

honor societies. He was admitted to the bar in 1951 and was in private practice in Scranton from then until 1962. Conaboy was a deputy state attorney general for the State Workman's Insurance Fund of Pennsylvania from 1953 to 1959. He was a hearing examiner of the

Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board The Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) is an independent government agency that manages the beverage alcohol industry in Pennsylvania by administering the Pennsylvania Liquor Code. It is responsible for licensing the possession, sale, stor ...

from 1959 to 1962. Conaboy then served as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas for

Lackawanna County Lackawanna County (; unm, Lèkaohane) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania and had a population of 215,896 as of the 2020 census. Its county seat and largest city is Scranton. The count ...

, Pennsylvania, from 1962 to 1979, and was the president judge from 1978 to 1979. He was a member of the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

, the

Pennsylvania Bar Association The Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in Pennsylvania, United States. The association offers membership benefits, including publications, practice support, networking, and continuing e ...

and the

American Judicature Society The American Judicature Society (AJS) is an independent, non-partisan membership organization working nationally to protect the integrity of the American justice system. AJS's membership — including judges, lawyers, and members of the public — ...

Federal judicial service

On May 29, 1979, Conaboy was nominated by President

to a new seat on the

created by 92 Stat. 1629. He 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 ...

on July 23, 1979, and received his commission on July 24, 1979. He served as Chief Judge from 1989 to 1992, assuming

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 ...

on September 1, 1992. While serving in that capacity, he was the chair of the

from 1994 to 1998. He was named in that role with the support of the then chair of the

United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary The United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, informally the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a standing committee of 22 U.S. senators whose role is to oversee the Department of Justice (DOJ), consider executive and judicial nomination ...

Joe Biden.

Later life and death

Conaboy died on November 9, 2018, at Regional Hospital in Scranton, as a result of suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which m ...

at a local restaurant. He had been in a medically induced

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal wake-sleep cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. Coma patients exhi ...

for several days in hopes of reviving him.

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Conaboy, Richard Paul 1925 births 2018 deaths People from Scranton, Pennsylvania Military personnel from Pennsylvania Chairpersons of the United States Sentencing Commission Columbus School of Law alumni Judges of the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas Judges of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania United States Army Air Forces soldiers United States district court judges appointed by Jimmy Carter 20th-century American judges University of Scranton alumni United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II