Judge David Porter
Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
David James Porter was born in March 1966 in Kittanning, Pennsylvania. He earned an undergraduate degree from Grove City College and his Juris Doctor from the George Mason University School of Law. He clerked at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania before entering the private practice of law.
He was nominated to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit by President Donald Trump. He was confirmed by the Senate in a 50-45 vote and received his judicial commission in October 2018.
In the News…
The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia has affirmed a lower court ruling that allows lawsuits to proceed in state courts against nursing home operators facing hundreds of COVID-19 negligence and wrongful death lawsuits. The nursing homes had argued that the suits against them belonged in federal court, citing an emergency U.S. law known as the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, which shields those fighting the pandemic from lawsuits.
The ruling was made by a three-judge panel with Judge David Porter writing the opinion. It affirmed a lower court ruling and rejected the nursing homes’ argument that the act was so far-reaching that families’ state-law negligence claims were really federal claims that belonged in federal courts.
The families “asserted only garden-variety state-law claims, so state court is where these cases belong,” the court said.
The Third Circuit said determining whether the PREP Act shields nursing homes from pandemic-related lawsuits should be determined by a state court, although other federal appeals courts are expected to address that same question in coming months.
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Porter today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable David Porter
Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals
James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse
601 Market Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106
