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Pittsburgh Judge On Final List For U.S. Supreme Court Appointment

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Judge Thomas Hardiman, a 51-year old Fox Chapel resident and judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, is on President Trump's short list to be named to the U.S. Supreme Court.

If named to the Supreme Court, Hardiman would be the first Pittsburgh justice since Associate Justice George Shiras was appointed by President Harrison in 1892.

A judge since age 37, Hardiman was a practicing Pittsburgh attorney, first hired by Robert Cindrich, later a Democratic federal judge.

"He has that common man touch," Judge Cindrich told KDKA political editor Jon Delano on Wednesday.

"He comes from a middle class background, been a superlative student all the way through. The point is he would bring a refreshing point of view, somebody from America who feels more like the rest of us."

While conservative, Hardiman married into the Democratic Zappala family and is not an ideologue, which may help him in Senate confirmation, says University of Pittsburgh law professor Arthur Hellman.

"I think it would be very difficult for the Democrats to portray him as somebody to be afraid of," says Hellman.

Unlike most of the Supreme Court justices who are graduates of elite Ivy League law schools, Hardiman went to Notre Dame and Georgetown Law School.

And his Pittsburgh roots may suggest to President Trump that he's not one of those Ivy League elitists.

Hardiman may also have a secret weapon.

The President's sister, Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, is a colleague on the same court.

"I'm sure Judge Barry has a very high regard for Judge Hardiman," says Robert Byer, an appellate attorney who has argued cases in front of Hardiman.

Still, others like Hellman say if the President wants a sure vote on key conservative issues, "I think he would probably not go with Judge Hardiman simply because there's less of a paper record on which to predict."

The other two judges under consideration are Judge Neil Gorsuch and Judge Bill Pryor.

The President will make his pick next week.

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