Judge John Gallagher
Eastern Pennsylvania U.S. District Court
John Michael Gallagher was born in 1966 in Queens, New York. He earned his undergraduate degree from Long Island University and received his Juris Doctor from New York Law School. He served as a member of the Miami and Philadelphia Police Departments and as a New York City police officer for five years. He was a White House Fellow at the U.S. Department of Justice.
He served 15 years as an Assistant United States Attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Gallagher was nominated by President Donald Trump to be a U.S. District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. After a cloture vote, he was confirmed by the Senate and received his judicial commission in December 2019.
In the News…
The ACLU and others filed a lawsuit against a Pennsylvania school district on behalf of The Satanic Temple. The suit alleged the school district was in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment because it had prohibited a Satanic Temple-sponsored student club from meeting in the district’s facilities. The school district argued the prohibition was made because permission slips had not made it clear that the club was not district-sponsored.
Federal District Judge John Gallagher ruled that the school district must allow the After School Satan Club to meet during the school year and that it would not have to distribute permission slips for students to attend.
In his ruling, Judge Gallagher wrote, “When confronted with a challenge to free speech, the government’s first instinct must be to forward expression rather than quash it. Particularly when the content is controversial or inconvenient. Nothing less is consistent with the expressed purpose of American government to secure the core, innate rights of its people.”
Contact this Leader…
Did you pray for Judge Gallagher today? You can let him know at:
The Honorable John M. Gallagher
Eastern Pennsylvania U.S. District Court
Edward N. Cahn Courthouse & Federal Bldg.
504 W. Hamilton St.
Allentown, PA 18101
