Cynthia Baldwin

Cynthia Baldwin is a former justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She also served as the first general counsel for the Pennsylvania State University, and in that capacity, she gained some national attention during the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.[1]

The Honorable Cynthia A. Baldwin was the first African-American woman elected to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas and only 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 also served as the first General Counsel for the Pennsylvania State University. A Fulbright Scholarship Lecturer on the Law Faculty of the University of Zimbabwe in 1994, Justice Baldwin is serving a second term on the Fulbright Association Board in Washington, D.C. where she was recently elected Vice Chair. 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. She also serves on the board of Vibrant Pittsburgh and the Advisory Board of the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics at Chatham University. A Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania, she recently retired from the corporate board of Koppers, Inc. Among her many awards are the ATHENA Award, the Heinz History Center History Maker Award and the HistoryMakers Award.

Justice Baldwin has also been featured in the following Marquis’ publications: Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, Who’s Who in American Politics, Who’s Who in the East, Who’s Who of American Women, and Who’s Who in Emerging Leaders in America. She is also the recipient of several honorary doctorates from prestigious universities.

In recognition of outstanding contributions to her profession and the Marquis Who’s Who community, Justice Cynthia A. Baldwin 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 is being 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 Messrs 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] Judge 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] Judge Feudale also stated that senior executives of an organization, like Mr. Schultz, Mr. Curley and Mr. Spanier, are usually represented by that organization's counsel. Judge 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. Judge Feudale went on to state that he believed that the defendants' motion "lacks merit in fact and law" [9]

In his Opinion, Judge Feudale confirmed that he was not advised, and he had no reason to believe, that Mr. Schultz and Mr. Curley were targets of the investigation.[10] Judge Feudale also acknowledged that there was persuasive evidence that Mr. Schultz, Mr. Curley and Mr. Spanier withheld relevant evidence from Ms. Baldwin.[10] Tim 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. Mr. Curley, along with Mr. Schultz, Graham Spanier and now deceased Coach Joe Paterno has 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 of 2017, the Disciplinary Board filed a public complaint against Baldwin. A Hearing Committee was appointed by the Disciplinary Board to hear the case. After a two day hearing, they issued a unanimous Report and Recommendation finding that Baldwin had done nothing wrong and there should be no discipline. The Office of Disciplinary Counsel in a rare move appealed this unanimous recommendation to the Disciplinary Board. In an even rarer move, the Disciplinary Board scolded the media for their stories and vowed that it was not over. The letter to the media was posted on their web site.

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. "Attorney Cynthia Baldwin was formally reprimanded for her handling of the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  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)
  13. h[ttp://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/person.asp?personId=7292113&privcapId=3777611]
  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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