Musmanno, Michael A. (Michael Angelo), 1897-1968

Michael A. Musmanno was a member of the Pennsylvania State Legislature from 1929 to 1931. He authored a bill outlawing the Coal and Iron Police in western Pennsylvania. He also authored the movie script, and later the novel, Black fury which fictionalized the story of John Barkowski, an employee of the Pittsbugth Coal Company who was beaten to death by the Coal and Iron Police for no apparent reason. Musmanno represented Mrs. Sophia Barkowski in the Barkowski case against three members of the Coal and Iron Police who were subsequently acquitted.

Michael A. Musmanno was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1923 and worked several years as a practicing attorney in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. He was elected and served as a member of the Pennsylvania State Legislature from 1929 to 1931. In 1932, he began his lifelong career as a jurist, serving as a judge of Allegheny County Court, Court of Common Pleas, and Justice, Pennsylvania Supreme Court, 1951-1968.

Michael Angelo Musmanno was born on April 7, 1897, in Stowe Township, Allegheny County, PA. He earned a Bachelor of Law from Georgetown, a Bachelor and Master's of Arts from George Washington University, and a Master of Law and Master of Patent Laws from National University. He also earned doctorates from American University and from the University of Rome. During his lifetime, Musmanno ran for a variety of public offices, mostly judicial posts. He campaigned for various posts seventeen times between 1926 and 1968.

Michael A. Musmanno was a trial lawyer in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia from 1923 to 1931 and then a Judge of the County Court in 1932. He became a State Supreme Court Justice in 1952. Musmanno was a prominent figure in Pittsburgh concerning the war against communism. His reputation for being aggressively opposed to communism originated through his extensive role in the Nelson sedition case. He collected an extensive dossier on comunistic activities in the United States and around the world. He actively sought the elimination of a communist presence in the United States and specifically in the Pittsburgh area.

Michael A. Musmanno was a member of the Pennsylvania State Legislature from 1929 to 1931. In 1932, he began serving as a judge of Allegheny County Court, Court of Common Pleas and from 1951 to 1968 he served as Justice, Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Michael A. Musmanno was born April 7, 1897, in Stowe Township, Allegheny County, PA. In 1923, he was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar and worked several years as an attoney. He served 4 years in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and, in 1932, he began his lifelong career as a jurist. In 1951, he became a Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. During the World War II, Captain Musmanno served as naval aide to General Mark Clark, Fifth Army, during the Italian invasion. Musmanno led the U.S. investigation to determine if Adolf Hitler died at the end of the war. He served as a presiding judge at the Nuremberg War Crime trials and retired from active duty as a rear admiral.

During World War II, Captain Michael A. Musmanno served as naval aid to General Mark Clark, Fifth Army, during the Italian invasion. He was appointed military governor of the Sorrentino Peninsula. In 1946, General Clark appointed Musmanno president of the U.S. Forces in Austria Board of Soviet Repatriation. The Board was appointed on January 28, 1946 to establish the citizenship of displaced persons in Austria whom the Soviet Union wished to repatriate, by force if necessary. Very strict standards for forcible repatriation were established placing the burden of proof upon the Soviet Army. The Board found that almost none of the listed individuals were subject to repatriation and the board concluded its duties on March 15, 1946.

Michael A. Musmanno, born April 7, 1897 in the mill town of McKees Rocks, PA, worked as a coal miner in high school, attended Georgetown University, earned a BA and a MA, and began to study law. After serving in World War I, he finished his law degree and was admited to the Pennsylvania Bar. In the early part of 1927, Musmanno entered the Sacco Vanzetti case as a defence counsel. He went on to a sucesful career as a judge and writer including serving as a justice on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He was author of dozens of articles and numerous books including two on the Sacco Vanzetti case: After twelve years and Verdict. He continued to maintain that Sacco and Vanzetti had been unjustly convicted and executed.

Michael A. Musmanno was born April 7, 1897, in Stowe Township, Allegheny County, PA. In 1923, he was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar and worked several years as an attorney. He was elected in 1928 to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and re-elected in 1930. In 1932 he began his lifelong career as a jurist, serving as a judge of Allegheny County Court, Court of Common Pleas, and as a Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He felt that druken drivers were careless and negligible, and that many acccidents and fatalities could be prevented if people would be made aware of the dangers of driving while intoxicated. Musmanno imposed what were considered, at that time, stiff sentences for drunk driving. Many, including his fellow judges, felt the sentences were too harsh and that Musmanno was extending the limits of his judicial powers. Musmanno was undaunted and continued his crusade.

During World War II, Captain Michael A. Musmanno served as naval aid to General Mark Clark, Fifth Army, during the Italian invasion. He was appointed military governor of the Sorrentino Peninsula. He recieved many awards, including the Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, and Purple Heart. He led the US investigation to determine if Adolf Hitler died at the end of the war. In 1946, he was appointed president, US Forces in Austria Board of Soviet Repatriation which established very strict standards for forcible repatriation, placing the burden of proof upon the Soviet Army. Musmanno was appointed by President Harry S. Truman to be one of the three judges on a panal for the three cases of the U.S. v. Milch, Pohl, and Ohlendorf. He was the presiding judge for the Einsatzgruppen case, where twenty men in charge of concentration camp and labor supply administration were tried for the murder of one million civilians. He would retire from active duty as a rear admiral.

Michael A. Musmanno was a member of the Pennsylvania State Legislature from 1929 to 1931. In 1932, he began his lifelong career as a jurist, serving as a judge of Allegheny County Court, Court of Common Pleas and Justice, Pennsylvania Supreme Court. By 1953, Musmanno had been a leading figure in the fight against communism in Pittsburgh.

John Mullen was mayor of Clairton, PA and later the National Director of the Political Action Committee of the United Steelworkers of America. In 1953, Mullen accused Musmanno of hindering a witness in a trial of two Clairton councilmen who Mullen testified against. The Court of Common Pleas dismissed the charges against Musmanno. In 1954, the Senate Task Force of the Internal Sub-Committee held hearings at which FBI informants testified that the Mullen accusation was a frame-up done in order to stop Musmanno's fight against the local Communist Party. After another hearning, the Committee found that the Communist Party waged a campaign to discredit and harass Musmanno, but could make no findings with respect to Mullen's alleged participation in Communist activities.