John Cleland

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John M. Cleland

McKean County Court of Common Pleas

Tenure

Present officeholder

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John M. Cleland is a Senior Judge on the McKean County Court of Common Pleas. He was a judge on the Pennsylvania Superior Court from 2008 to 2009.

Education

Cleland received his undergraduate degree from Denison University and in 1972, his J.D. from The National Law Center of The George Washington University, 1972.

Professional career

Cleland began his legal career as a law clerk for United States District Judge Barron P. McCune. After that, he went into the private practice in law until his appointment to the McKean County Court of Common Pleas in 1984. He served on the court from 1984 to 2008. That year, he was appointed an interim judge on the Pennsylvania Superior Court. After one year on the court, he became a senior judge for the courts on which he had previously served.

Awards and associations

• Member, Juvenile Court Judge Commission.
• Former Trustee, University of Pittsburgh
• Invited participant in Harvard University Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Session for State Court Leaders in the 21st Century.
• Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges President’s Distinguished Service Award
• Golden Crowbar Award
• University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s Presidential Medal of Distinction
• Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Clarity in Writing Award.

Jerry Sandusky case

In 2011, Cleland was assigned the case of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, who was found guilty of forty-five criminal acts regarding child molestation. Cleland was appointed judge following the recusal of all the judges on the Centre County Court of Common Pleas. The judges recused to prevent any bias or perceived bias in their affiliation with Sandusky, Penn State, or the charity Second Mile.

See also

• News: Jerry Sandusky hearing starts today, December 13, 2011
• News: Developments in Jerry Sandusky case, April 15, 2012

External links

• TribLive.com, "Sandusky judge no stranger to difficult cases," June 3, 2012
• The Patriot-News, "McKean County judge will preside after Centre County judges remove themselves from Jerry Sandusky case," November 22, 2011
• Official biography of John Cleland (dead link)