Longtime federal judge Franklin Van Antwerpen has died

Franklin Van Antwerpen of Palmer Township, whose long career took him from working in legal aid to serving on the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, died Monday.

Van Antwerpen, 74, a Passaic, N.J. native, died around 12:30 a.m., according to his office. Further details were not immediately available.

Van Antwerpen's death ends decades of distinguished service in which he presided over the trial of a notorious Philadelphia mobster, among countless other cases.

Friends and colleagues regarded Van Antwerpen as a firm, fair jurist with a sharp sense of humor and an eagerness to dive deeply into cases.

"He was always a mentor to me," said U.S. District Court Judge Edward G. Smith. "I've known him since I came out of the Navy and started practicing law in Northampton County. He encouraged me to run for Northampton County judge, and obviously that turned out to be very good advice."

Van Antwerpen was in private law practice in Easton when he became Northampton County Court judge in 1979. Eight years later, he was appointed to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by President Ronald Reagan.

Reagan's successor, President George H.W. Bush, nominated Van Antwerpen to the 3rd Circuit in 1991.

The nomination never made it through the Senate Judiciary Committee and expired with Bush's term. President Bill Clinton declined to renominate him, but President George W. Bush submitted his name in 2003 and he was confirmed in May 2004.

"It was a pretty remarkable career," said Judge Robert Freedberg, a friend of more than 45 years who retired from the Pennsylvania Superior Court and is now in private practice.

"He was a very able jurist," said Freedberg, also a former Northampton County judge. "A clear thinker, excellent judicial temperament. He was patient and listened to arguments and was deliberative about his decisions. I will always rememberhis very keen sense of humor."

Van Antwerpen became the first Lehigh Valley resident appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals, which is a step below the Supreme Court. The 3rd Circuit, based in Philadelphia, has jurisdiction over U.S. District courts in New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania.

In 2006, when he turned 65, Van Antwerpen assumed senior status, meaning he was semi-retired. Most recently, in June, he was part of the 3rd Circuit appellate panel that rejected a class action suit against Viacom and Google. The suit alleged the companies invaded privacy by unlawfully tracking online video viewing.

His highest profile case was in 1988 when, just a year into his service on U.S. District Court, he presided over the trial of Philadelphia mobster Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo and 16 co-defendants. All were convicted.

On the eve of the trial, the Philadelphia Inquirer profiled Van Antwerpen. The late Mark Refowich, at the time the first assistant district attorney in Northampton County, recalled Van Antwerpen overseeing a civil case about a roof cave-in.

Because Van Antwerpen had studied civil engineering in college, "He went down there, whipped out his calculator and started figuring load bearings," Refowich told the paper.

Van Antwerpen's 2004 swearing-in to the 3rd Circuit bench drew hundreds to people to the federal courthouse in Allentown. Among them was Robert Reinstein, dean of the Temple University Law School, which Van Antwerpen attended.

"Thank you for coming, Dean Reinstein," Van Antwerpen quipped, "And thank you for not reading my grades."

Van Antwerpen saved his biggest thanks for U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican who helped persuade President Bush to nominate him and who helped break a stalemate in the Senate.

"Without him, this never could have happened," Van Antwerpen said. "Sen. Specter not only supported me, he used his seniority to convince the White House I was the right person for the job."

As Van Antwerpen took the oath in a fourth-floor courtroom, he placed his left hand on a Bible held by his wife, Kathleen. The Bible, in Dutch, was owned by his grandmother, who was born in Holland.

Van Antwerpen was known for his generosity to friends and colleagues. When Smith joined the federal court two years ago, Van Antwerpen gave him a number of bench books — guides to legal procedure — that he had annotated over the years.

"Every time something new or different came up, he would note it," Smith said. "They're just invaluable."

The law, Smith added, "has suffered a tremendous loss."

http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-judge-vanantwerpen-obit-20160725-story.html

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=3301201&forum_id=2#31030665)