Biography
Justice Joan Orie Melvin earned her bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Notre Dame, and her Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law. In 1985, she was appointed a Magistrate Judge for the City of Pittsburgh Municipal Courts, and in 1987 she became Chief Magistrate Judge. Judge Orie Melvin created programs for nonviolent offenders to participate in community service, along with establishing Pennsylvania’s first Domestic Violence Court. She was a member of the American, Pennsylvania, and Allegheny County Bar Associations.
She was appointed to the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas in 1990, and served in the Civil, Criminal, and Family Divisions. In 1997, Justice Orie Melvin was elected to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and was retained for another 10-year term in 2007. In 2009, she was elected to the Supreme Court and remained there until 2013, when she resigned.