After I graduated law school, I clerked in the Johnstown Division of the Western District of Pennsylvania for two years. Until fairly recently, that Division had a single federal judge. (The judge for whom I clerked assumed senior status, but still hears cases, along with a new active judge.) Since the single-judge division is in the news, I thought I would share my experiences.
You might ask, where the heck is Johnstown? This city, perhaps most famous for the devastating floods, sits half-way between Pittsburgh and State College. It is about a 90-minute drive to either city. The population is approximately 20,000, and dropping.
Why is there a federal court there? For decades, Johnstown was represented by Representative Jack Murtha, who was known as the "King of Pork." He was able to secure federal funding for a massive airport in Johnstown that could land 747s. The President would often touch down there on Air Force One! Otherwise, there were 1 or 2 flights a day on propeller jets. From what I've heard, Murtha used his earmarking prowess to establish a federal court in Johnstown. But there wasn't even a dedicated federal building. The facility was installed in a former department store. All of the rooms were internal. Indeed, none of our offices had windows. And the holding cell was on the opposite side of chambers. We could hear the prisoners banging against the walls in our office.
