Judge John M. Cleland is a senior trial judge available to be appointed to special assignments throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He was appointed to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in 2008 and served until December 2010. In 2009 he was a chair of the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice, which investigated the infamous “kids for cash” scandal in which two Luzerne County trial judges were eventually sentenced to federal prison for judicial corruption. Judge Cleland has been involved in efforts in Pennsylvania and nationally to address the interplay between the judicial and public health systems, including leading work to develop guidelines for courthouse biohazard preparedness, to create continuity of operations templates for Pennsylvania’s trial courts, to write a bench book for judges on public health law, and to organize court systems to meet the challenges presented by pandemic flu. He participated in the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Session for State Court Leaders in the 21st Century. He received a Bachelor of Arts in history from Denison University in 1969 and a Juris Doctor with honors from the National Law Center of the George Washington University in 1972.
