Theodore Alexander McKee (born June 5, 1947, in Rochester,

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

) 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 United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, district courts for the following United Sta ...

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

Education

McKee received a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from the

State University of New York at Cortland The State University of New York at Cortland (SUNY Cortland, C-State, or Cortland State) is a public university in Cortland, New York. It was founded in 1868 and is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. History The State Univ ...

in 1969 and earned his

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from

Syracuse University College of Law The Syracuse University College of Law is the law school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. It is one of only four law schools in upstate New York. Syracuse was accredited by the American Bar Association in 1923 and is a charter member ...

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 American honor society for law school graduates. The Order was founded in 1902 at the University of Illinois College of Law. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of trial lawyers, the serjeants-at-la ...

and the Justinian Honor Society.

Legal career

McKee was in private practice in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

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 ...

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 gov ...

in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 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 Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

before a special grand jury, as part of a nationwide probe into police brutality by the United States Civil Rights Commission. 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. From 1980 to 1991, McKee was a lecturer at

Rutgers Law School Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the three-year J.D. pr ...

Judicial career

State court judicial career

In 1984, McKee was elected as a Judge on the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, 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 and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

nominated Judge McKee to the

on March 22, 1994, to a seat vacated by Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. McKee 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 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 t ...

policy guaranteeing transgender students use of their preferred locker room. In 2021, he announced that he is going to assume senior status 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 limited to 3,000 elected members and established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and i ...

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 Pennsylvania state court 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 20th-century African-American lawyers 21st-century African-American lawyers {{US-federal-judge-stub