Cynthia Baldwin

Cynthia Baldwin is an American jurist who was a justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after serving sixteen years as a Pennsylvania County Court judge. Baldwin was the first African-American woman elected to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and the second African-American woman to serve on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She retired from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2008. After her retirement from the Court, she became a partner with Duane Morris and served as the first General Counsel for the Pennsylvania State University.

Cynthia Baldwin
Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
In office
2006–2008
Allegheny County Court judge
In office
1989–2006
Personal details
Born
Cynthia Anita Ackron Baldwin

(1945-02-08)February 8, 1945
McKeesport, Pennsylvania
Alma materDuquesne University

As the first general counsel for the Pennsylvania State University she gained some national attention during the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.[1]

A Fulbright Scholarship Lecturer on the Law Faculty of the University of Zimbabwe in 1994, Baldwin is serving a second term on the Fulbright Association Board in Washington, D.C. She has chaired the boards of the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities (AGB) and the Pennsylvania State University as well as serving on the board of Duquesne University.

Baldwin has been awarded the ATHENA Award, the Heinz History Center History Maker Award and the HistoryMakers Award. She is also the recipient of several honorary doctoratess. In recognition of contributions, she is featured on Marquis Who’s Who Lifetime Achievers website.[2]

Education

Cynthia Baldwin received both her bachelor's degree (in English) and her master’s degree (in American literature) from Penn State.[3] After working as a teacher, English professor and assistant dean of student affairs at Penn State’s Greater Allegheny Campus, she subsequently earned her juris doctor degree from Duquesne University School of Law.[4] At Duquesne she was a member of the law review and is now a board member emerita.[3]

In 1983, Baldwin worked as the prosecuting attorney-in-charge in the Office of the Attorney General at the Bureau of Consumer Protection.[4] She rose to the bench in 1989, when she became the first black woman elected to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. Baldwin served in this office for sixteen years.[5] Then, in 2006, she was appointed to the state Supreme Court by Governor Ed Rendell. She retired from the court in January 2008. After retiring from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, but before becoming Penn State's General Counsel, she became a partner in the international law firm of Duane Morris, LLP. There, her focus was on appellate litigation and not-for-profit issues.[4]

Baldwin is an alumnus of Penn State, and served as the president of its alumni association from 1989-91.[6] She also served as Chair of the Penn State Board of Trustees from 2004-2007.

In January 2010, she was recruited to come to Penn State as the University's first general counsel, establish the Office of General Counsel and assist in recruiting a permanent general counsel. In that capacity, she became involved in the Jerry Sandusky scandal. News reports in July 2012 indicated that Baldwin, in her capacity as General Counsel, recommended that then-Penn State president Graham Spanier reject calls for an independent body overseeing the school's athletic programs.[7] Additionally, her role was questioned in the case of the potential criminal cases against Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley. When Curley appeared before the grand jury, he told court officials that Baldwin was his attorney, but she stated that she was only representing the university on that occasion;[8]

On April 9, 2013, Judge Barry Feudale issued a 16-page ruling rejecting Spanier's, Schultz's and Curley's request to omit Presentment 29 from the investigation.[9] In denying the motion to throw out Baldwin's testimony, Feudale ruled that he did not have jurisdiction to quash the presentment but, if it were decided that jurisdiction did fall to him, that he did not believe Baldwin's testimony violated any attorney-client privileges.[9] Feudale further stated in his Opinion:[w]hen attorney Baldwin appeared before this court with witness[es] Curley and Schultz, the court was aware attorney Baldwin was General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer and Vice President of PSU."[10] Feudale also stated that senior executives of an organization, like Schultz, Curley and Spanier, are usually represented by that organization's counsel. Feudale further wrote that "Spanier, Curley and Schultz are "highly educated" men who had positions of considerable influence at PSU as well as inferentially, knowledge about important events that impact the reputation of the university; and it therefore strains credulity to infer that they were somehow deluded or misrepresented by attorney Baldwin." Feudale went on to state that he believed that the defendants' motion "lacks merit in fact and law".[9]

In his Opinion, Feudale confirmed that he was not advised, and he had no reason to believe, that Schultz and Curley were targets of the investigation.[10] Feudale also acknowledged that there was persuasive evidence that Schultz, Curley and Spanier withheld relevant evidence from Baldwin.[10] Curley, Penn State's former athletic director, and Gary Schultz, retired vice president for finance and business have been arrested and charged by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General for allegedly perjuring themselves before the grand jury about what they knew about the Sandusky affair.[11] The charges include perjury, obstruction of justice and endangering the welfare of a child. Curley, along with Schultz, Graham Spanier and Coach Joe Paterno had also been cited by the Freeh Report as engaging in a cover up of Sandusky's abuse activities.[12]

In 2016, the Pennsylvania Superior Court overruled the lower court although Baldwin had not been permitted to intervene, was not a party or a participant, and was granted no due process rights. In November 2017, the Office of Disciplinary Counsel of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania filed a Petition for Discipline against Baldwin. A Hearing Committee was appointed by the Disciplinary Board to hear the matter and, in October 2018, issued a Report and Recommendation that no rule violation was found. The Disciplinary Board heard oral argument from both parties in January 2019. In March 2019, the Disciplinary Board issued its Report and Recommendation to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, recommending Baldwin be subjected to a Public Censure by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court heard oral argument from both parties in September 2019. In February 2020, the Supreme Court issued an Opinion imposing discipline in the form of a public reprimand, which was administered by the Disciplinary Board on July 22, 2020.

Other activities

Baldwin is a former Fulbright lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe, where she lectured and conducted research on constitutional issues for the Zimbabwe Supreme Court prior to the changes made by President Robert Mugabe.[5] She has also worked on many worldwide ethics issues including participating in anti-corruption projects for developing nations through the Brookings Institution.[5]

Civic and professional activities

Publications
  • “Combating Judicial Corruption in Uganda”, 2009[18]
  • “All About Family Court,” An Answer and Activity Book for Children in Court, 1999.[19]
  • "Avoiding Abuse, (of and under state and federal acts)," Pittsburgh Legal Journal, p. 1, Dec. 1994 [20]

References
  1. “Pa. Supreme Court chief justice complained about a Black justice and her ‘minority agenda,’ former judge says” Philadelphia Inquirer, Posted: July 23,2020
  2. Biography used with permission of Just. Cynthia A. Baldwin (ret.)
  3. "Cynthia Baldwin". African American Chronicles: Black History at Penn State. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  4. "Biography: The Honorable Cynthia Baldwin". The History Makers. 13 August 2008. Retrieved 2 August 2020.
  5. "Justice Cynthia A. Baldwin Named 2007 ATHENA Award Recipient" (PDF). Allegheny Conference on Community Development. 10 September 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2010. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  6. "Retired Supreme Court Justice Cynthia A. Baldwin honored by PBA's Women on the Commission". Pennsylvania Bar Association. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  7. Levin, Josh (13 July 2012). "Should Penn State Football Get the Death Penalty?". Slate. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  8. Ganim, Sara (2 February 2012). "Special Report: Penn State counsel Cynthia Baldwin's role before grand jury could affect the perjury cases against Tim Curley and Gary Schultz's perjury case, experts say". PennLive.com. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  9. "Spanier, Curly & Schultz Lose Important Court Battle: Judge Denies Motions to Strike Baldwin's Testimony", April 10, 2013, State College.com, http://www.statecollege.com/news/local-news/spanier-curly-schultz-lose-important-court-battle-judge-denies-motions-to-strike-baldwins-testimony-1284621/
  10. "Opinion of Judge Feudale, Supervising Judge re the Thirty Third State-Wide Investigating Grand Jury" http://www.dauphincounty.org/government/Court-Departments/Curley-Schultz-Spanier/Documents/April%209,%202013%20Opinion%20of%20Grand%20Jury%20Judge%20-%20Judge%20Feudale.pdf
  11. "Ex-Penn St. coach Sandusky arrested". 7 November 2011. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  12. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-09-03. Retrieved 2012-08-25.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Board of Directors - NACD". Three Rivers. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  15. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2013-12-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-01-10. Retrieved 2013-12-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. "Pennsylvania Bar Association". www.pabar.org.
  18. Signé, Landry (2009-09-23). "Combating Judicial Corruption in Uganda". Brookings. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  19. "Archives | The Philadelphia Inquirer". www.inquirer.com.
  20. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-24. Retrieved 2013-12-23.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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