* Judge Dwayne D. Woodruff is used to blazing trails. He did so as a member of Pittsburgh Steelers, when the former defensive back helped the Steelers win a Super Bowl in 1980, the first of his 12 seasons with the team, one as team captain. He found time during his playing days to earn a law degree at night from Duquesne University. That led to a 17-year private practice, mostly on the defense side, and eventually to the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, where he has served mostly in the Family Court Division since 2005.
* Now 60, Woodruff has one more hurdle to clear. On Nov. 7, he wants to succeed former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Robert N.C. Nix Jr. to become just the second elected African American to the oldest state supreme court in the land.
* The chorus of support for Woodruff is loud and unanimous. And while football always seems to creep into the conversation, it always tends to be a secondary metaphor to describe his character and work ethic. “I saw Dwayne in law school and how dedicated he was to get a legal education while still playing football,” said Baldwin, a former law professor at Duquesne who in 1989 became the first African-American woman elected judge in Allegheny County. “He will be the same kind of judge as he is a man — dedicated to families, dedicated to young people and dedicated to his faith.”
Philadelphia Tribune: Judge Woodruff ready to blaze another trail
By John N. Mitchell
Judge Dwayne D. Woodruff is used to blazing trails.
He did so as a member of Pittsburgh Steelers, when the former defensive back helped the Steelers win a Super Bowl in 1980, the first of his 12 seasons with the team, one as team captain.
He found time during his playing days to earn a law degree at night from Duquesne University. That led to a 17-year private practice, mostly on the defense side, and eventually to the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, where he has served mostly in the Family Court Division since 2005.
Now 60, Woodruff has one more hurdle to clear. On Nov. 7, he wants to succeed former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Robert N.C. Nix Jr. to become just the second elected African American to the oldest state supreme court in the land.
Established in 1722, two other African Americans have been appointed to the court — Justice Cynthia Baldwin and Juanita Kidd Stout — but only Nix, the grandson of a former slave, who served as the Chief Justice from 1984-1996, was elected to the court.
The historical gravity of his potential election to the court is not lost on him. But Woodruff believes there is significantly more to it.
“By all means I think it’s positive and historical,” Woodruff, the the first African American endorsed by the Democratic Party for a seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, said. “But as I’ve been indicating across the state, I’m qualified for this position with regard to my legal experience.
“I am not asking people to vote for me because I am Black,” Woodruff, one of just three Black judges out of 45 in Allegheny County, continued. “I’m asking them to vote for me because I am qualified, I understand the issues and I want to continue to broaden my service to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”
Woodruff made his first run for the state court in 2015 but lost in the primary. His opposition this time is Republican Tioga County Judge Sallie Mundy. Mundy was appointed by Governor Tom Wolf. However, Wolf is supporting Woodruff.
Former Governor Ed Rendell, who appointed Baldwin, said Friday that he was disappointed that the important election had not garnered more attention. He has ordered 4,000 posters to be plastered across the city in the coming days. Philadelphia, Rendell said, is crucial for Woodruff, who is being outspent by Mundy.
“My belief is Democrats have a moral obligation to go out of their way to help African-American candidates because African-Americans are the most loyal and reliable supporters of the party,” Rendell said. “But the only way he wins is for there to be a strong turnout in Philly, particularly in the African-American wards.”
The chorus of support for Woodruff is loud and unanimous. And while football always seems to creep into the conversation, it always tends to be a secondary metaphor to describe his character and work ethic.
“I saw Dwayne in law school and how dedicated he was to get a legal education while still playing football,” said Baldwin, a former law professor at Duquesne who in 1989 became the first African-American woman elected judge in Allegheny County. “He will be the same kind of judge as he is a man — dedicated to families, dedicated to young people and dedicated to his faith.”
Councilman At-Large Derek Green, also an attorney, compares Woodruff to legendary Minnesota Vikings defensive end Alan Page, who, during his hall-of-fame career, earned a law degree while playing and served as an associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court from 1993 until 2015.
“He is in that similar mold,” said Green, who met Woodruff during his first run for the court. “He was traveling back and forth between Philly and Pittsburgh at a grueling pace. He told me he would try again. It showed his commitment and dedication. He would be an excellent choice.”
He has been married to Joy Woodruff for 39 years. They have three children, Jillian Woodruff, M.D., an obstetrician-gynecologist in Anchorage, Alaska; Jenyce M. Woodruff, a technology industry attorney in Philadelphia; and John B. Woodruff II, an attorney and captain in the United States Marines.
Woodruff, who has also served as an Elder in his church, chose family court, avoided by many judges, because family resonates with him. An only child born in Bowling Green, Ky., he was very close to his mother, Doris, who succumbed to ovarian cancer at 46. His father, John Woodruff, is his role model, a veteran who served in two wars. With his father mostly overseas, the bond between him and his mother taught him the value of family and fostered his desire to work in family court, where the stories are often harrowing.
“Kids screw up and families screw up from time to time. But children are going to determine the direction of our country,” Woodruff said. “But I want to be that solution that helps them get on the right track and living their lives appropriately as they should. And the majority do just that.”
The current debate over NFL players, the majority of them Black, protesting the national anthem before games, is a First Amendment litmus test that Woodruff can speak to and Mundy cannot.
It recently surfaced as a campaign issue when Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Val DiGiorgio appeared to oversimplify Woodruff’s support for the players when he released a statement saying Woodruff “has thrown in with those disrespecting our flag,” adding, “Our Commonwealth deserves Supreme Court judges committed to protecting our Constitution and principles upon which our nation was founded.”
Woodruff’s son is a lawyer in the military and his father served in two theaters of war. He says the protests make his “blood boil.”
But. …
“That’s my opinion,” Woodruff says, “but at the same time, the Constitution of the United States is more important than that. So we have to be sure we protect those rights. If you believe in the Constitution, although it’s not something I would do, you have to guarantee and protect that people have the right to protest peacefully as long as it’s not infringing on someone else’s rights.”
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