Misplaced Pages

John Paul Flaherty Jr. (November 19, 1931 – February 20, 2019) was a justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1978 to 2001 and chief justice of the Court from 1996 to 2001. He retired at the end of 2001. His seat as Justice was filled by Michael Eakin.

In a highly controversial case while a trial judge, Judge Flaherty's November 16, 1978 findings on Paul Aitkenhead v. Borough of West View, No. GD-4585-78 in part state: "Over the course of five months, the court held periodic hearings, which consisted of extensive expert testimony from as far away as England. At issue was the most recent time-trend study of Dr. Burk and Dr. Yiamouyiannis, which compared cancer mortality in ten cities which fluoridated their water systems with ten cities which did not fluoridate over a period of twenty-eight years from 1940 to 1968. The study concluded that there was a significant increase in cancer mortality in the fluoridated cities."

Judge Flaherty remained convinced that fluoridation is a dangerous practice based on the scientific evidence and moreover that those who belittle opponents of fluoridation do the public a disservice. He agreed that fluoridation is a legislative and regulatory matter under U.S. laws that govern the practice.

References

1. Who's Who in American Law, 1998-1999. Marquis Who's Who. 1998. p. 239.
2. Lynn S. McQuown, Pennsylvania, George Ehgartner (J.) (1993). The Pennsylvania Manual, Volume 111. Department of Property and Supplies for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. ISBN 9780818201776. Retrieved 2013-07-15.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
3. "Obituary for John P. Flaherty, Jr". Neely Funeral Home. Retrieved 27 February 2019.
4. ^ Jackson, Peter (November 7, 2001). "Eakin Ahead in Supreme Court Race". Beaver County Times.

v t e Chief justices of Pennsylvania
18th century	David Lloyd Jeremiah Langhorne James Logan William Allen Benjamin Chew Thomas McKean Edward Shippen IV
19th century	William Tilghman John Bannister Gibson Jeremiah S. Black Ellis Lewis Walter H. Lowrie George W. Woodward James Thompson John M. Read Daniel Agnew George Sharswood Ulysses Mercur Isaac G. Gordon Edward M. Paxson James P. Sterrett Henry Green J. Brewster McCollum
20th century	James T. Mitchell D. Newlin Fell J. Hay Brown Robert von Moschzisker Robert S. Frazer John W. Kephart William I. Schaffer George W. Maxey James B. Drew Horace Stern Charles Alvin Jones John C. Bell Jr. Benjamin R. Jones Michael J. Eagen Henry X. O'Brien Samuel J. Roberts Robert N. C. Nix Jr. John P. Flaherty Jr.
21st century	Stephen Zappala Sr. Ralph Cappy Ronald D. Castille Thomas G. Saylor Max Baer Debra Todd

• 1931 births
• 2019 deaths
• Justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Chief justices of Pennsylvania
• 20th-century American judges