PITTSBURGH (AP) – PA Supreme Court Chief Justice Max Baer has died at age 74 only months before he was set to retire. The court confirmed Saturday he died at his home near Pittsburgh. It didn’t give a cause of death, but called his “sudden passing” a “tremendous loss for the court and all of PA.” The court also said Justice Debra Todd is now the first female chief justice in Commonwealth history. Baer was an Allegheny County family court judge and an administrative judge in family court before he was elected to the high court in 2003. He became chief justice last year. Gov. Tom Wolf ordered the state flag be flown at half-staff until sunset on the day of Baer’s interment.
CHIEF JUSTICE MAX BAER