Charles J. Margiotti

27/03/2020 Charles J.
Margiotti - Wikipedia
Charles J. Margiotti
Charles Joseph Margiotti
1937 photograph
Attorney General of Pennsylvania
In office
July 5, 1950 – March 2, 1951
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_J._Margiotti 1/9
27/03/2020 Charles J. Margiotti - Wikipedia
Governor James H. Duff

Preceded by T. McKeen Chidsey
Succeeded by Robert E.
Woodside
In office
January 15, 1935 – April 27, 1938
Governor George Howard
Earle III
Preceded by William A.
Schnader
Succeeded by Guy K. Bard
Personal details
Born April 9, 1891
Punxsutawney,
Pennsylvania
Died August 25, 1956
(aged 65)
Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania
Alma mater Indiana Normal
School · University
of Pennsylvania
Law School
Charles Joseph Margiotti (April 9, 1891 –

August 25, 1956) was a nationally prominent[1]
Pennsylvania lawyer who twice served as state
Attorney General.
Contents
Background
Career
Prominent cases
References
Further reading
External links
Background
Margiotti was born the son of Joseph and
Fortunata Recca Margiotti. His undergraduate
education was at the Indiana Normal School
(1912), and his law school education was at the

University of Pennsylvania (1915).[2]
Career
In 1934, Margiotti ran for the Republican
nomination for state governor and lost to Attorney
General William A. Schnader. He then switched
parties and successfully supported George Earle,
who then appointed him as Schnader's successor
as Attorney General.
In 1935, Margiotti was appointed state Attorney

General by Earle. Margiotti prosecuted a number
of graft cases involving Earle's administration.[3]
Margiotti himself was accused of arranging
excessive tax collection fees for his own law firm
and sued The Philadelphia Inquirer for libel over
their coverage.[4]
In 1938, Margiotti ran for the Democratic

nomination for state governor.[3] He campaigned
on the issue that the Earle administration was
corrupt, and Earle dismissed him. Margiotti lost
the nomination to Charles Alvin Jones. This time,
Margiotti did not switch parties.[5]
In September 1948, Margiotti joined former CIO

general counsel Lee Pressman in testing the
campaign-expenditures provision of the Taft-
Hartley Act. Pressman and Margiotti each received
$37,500 for their services – a fee CIO President
Philip Murray called "outrageous, even for
Standard Oil."[6]
In 1950, Margiotti was appointed again as state

Attorney General by Republican Governor Jim
Duff, a personal friend. The incoming 1951
governor, Republican John Fine, in submitting his
Cabinet nominees for approval to the General
Assembly, left the Attorney General position
blank, as he intending to retain Margiotti without
giving the General Assembly a chance to reject
him. The Democrats responded by blocking all
Cabinet appointments in protest against Margiotti,
and after a six-week standoff, Margiotti
resigned.[7][5]
Prominent cases
Margiotti was the prosecutor in the murder trial of
Irene Schroeder.[1][8]
Margiotti successfully defended Senator James J.

Davis, who had been accused of running a lottery
by mail on behalf of the Loyal Order of Moose.[1][9]
Margiotti successfully defended federal judge

Albert Williams Johnson and others who had been
accused of conspiracy to sell justice.[1][10]
References
1. "C. J. Margiotti, 65, Lawyer, is Dead". New
York Times. August 26, 1956. p. 85.
2. The Pennsylvania Manual, 1935–36.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 1936.
3. "In Pennsylvania Race for the Governorship".
New York Times. February 16, 1938. p. 11.
4. "Grill Margiotti Four Hours in Libel Trial".
Chicago Daily Tribune. February 13, 1936.
p. 20.
5. Beers 2010, p. 146.
6. "National Affairs: Never Again" (http://content.ti
me.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,79915
3,00.html). TIME. 20 September 1948.
Retrieved 15 December 2018.
7. "Margiotti Offers to Quit; Pennsylvania Attorney
General Cause of Cabinet Block". New York
Times. February 25, 1951. p. 43.

8. Beers 2010, p. 145.
9. "United States v. Davis" (http://www.leagle.co
m/decision/19331003FSupp97_175.xml/UNITE
D%20STATES%20v.%20DAVIS).
www.leagle.com. Leagle, Inc. Retrieved
2015-06-10.
10. "United States v. Johnson" (http://www.leagle.c
om/decision/194610765FSupp42_195.xml/UNI
TED%20STATES%20v.%20JOHNSON).
www.leagle.com. Leagle, Inc. Retrieved
2015-06-10.
Further reading
Beers, Paul B. (2010). Pennsylvania Politics
Today and Yesterday: The Tolerable
Accommodation (https://books.google.com/boo
ks?id=6SpJJmkNDFEC&lpg=PA144&dq=%22c
harles%20j%20margiotti%22&pg=PA144#v=on
epage&q=%22charles%20j%20margiotti%22&f
=false). Penn State Press. ISBN 0-271-00238-
7.
Harris, Chester (1956). Tiger at the Bar: The
Life Story of Charles J. Margiotti. Vantage
Books.
Luconi, Stefano (2001). From Paesani to White

Ethnics: The Italian Experience in Philadelphia
(https://books.google.com/books?id=n4hTFyJb
nuIC&lpg=PA69&dq=%22charles%20j%20mar
giotti%22&pg=PA69#v=onepage&q=%22charl
es%20j%20margiotti%22&f=false). SUNY
Press. ISBN 0-7914-4857-6.
External links
"Charles J. Margiotti" (http://www.findagrave.co
m/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=pv&GRid=62138336&PI
pi=96780107). www.findagrave.com. Find A
Grave. Retrieved 2015-06-11. Pennsylvania
historical marker, identifying his cemetery
Legal offices
Pennsylvania
Preceded by
Attorney Succeeded by
William A.
General Guy K. Bard
Schnader
1935–1938
Pennsylvania
Preceded by Succeeded by
Attorney
T. McKeen Robert E.
General
Chidsey Woodside
1950–1951
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

title=Charles_J._Margiotti&oldid=875783375"
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27/03/2020 Charles J.

Governor James H. Duff

Charles Joseph Margiotti (April 9, 1891 –

(1912), and his law school education was at the

In 1935, Margiotti was appointed state Attorney

In 1938, Margiotti ran for the Democratic

In September 1948, Margiotti joined former CIO

In 1950, Margiotti was appointed again as state

Margiotti successfully defended Senator James J.

Margiotti successfully defended federal judge

Times. February 25, 1951. p. 43.

Luconi, Stefano (2001). From Paesani to White

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?

This page was last edited on 29 December 2018, at

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-

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