My Philly Daily Crime Beat Column On The Late Judge Anthony J. DeFino Honored With South Philly Street Renaming

Philly Daily ran my Crime Beat column today on the renaming of South 20^th Street for the late Judge Anthony J. DeFino.

You can read the column via the link below or the following text:

 Davis: Late Judge Anthony J. DeFino honored with South Philly street name - Philly Daily

It has been said that both assistant district attorneys and defense attorneys liked appearing before Judge Anthony J. DeFino. Even the defendants he put away for 40 or 50 years liked him. Now, that is a tribute to a jurist.

The late judge lived in a fine old house in the Girard Estate historic district in South Philadelphia. I live nearby and as we both went for daily walks through the neighborhood, I often came across him in the years before he died. He was a friendly and gregarious man, and he stopped to talk to everyone in his path, including me 

He read my weekly newspaper column in the old South Philadelphia American, and he would sometimes praise the column and other times he would mock it – but with humor, not rancor. I asked to interview him for the column, but he waved me off, stating modestly that he had nothing to say. 

Tragically, he died in a fire in his home in 2013 when he was 86.

On May 1, the Philadelphia City Council honored the late judge by renaming South 20th Street between Porter Street and Shunk Street where he lived in South Philadelphia as “Judge Anthony J. DeFino Way.” 

The designation recognizes his decades of committed service to Philadelphia’s judicial system and his status as a lifelong South Philadelphian.  

Judge DeFino served on the bench of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas for nineteen years before retiring in 2007. He received the Thurgood Marshall Award in 2001 for improving standards of justice in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania courts, and the Cesare Beccaria Award in 2008 for contributions to justice and legal education.

I attended the street renaming ceremony on 20th Street. Council President and 2nd District Councilman President Kenyatta Johnson (seen in the above photo with the DeFino family) served as the Master of Ceremonies before more than 100 people, including retired and current judges, attorneys, politicians and friends, neighbors, and the family of Judge DeFino.

Speakers praising the judge’s life and legacy were Philadelphia Democratic Party Chairman Bob Brady, Kevin M. Dougherty, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 1st District Councilman Mark Squilla, and Jody Della Barba of the Girard Estate Association, who suggested the street renaming to Council President Johnson. Also speaking about the late judge were his daughter, Judge Rose Marie DeFina, two of his sons, attorneys Michael and Vincent DeFino, and three of his grandsons.    

“I was blessed a long time ago as an assistant DA to be assigned to his honor’s courtroom,” said Justice Dougherty. “There is not a day that I don’t think of Room 254 City Hall without a smile. I spent maybe three years with his honor and through that time, each day and every day, I would walk into the courtroom, and he would be standing in his black robe on top of the bench with his arms crossed going, “What can I do for you today, Dougherty?”    

“We are here today to not only salute his legal acumen, or the many lives he helped change in Philadelphia,” said Dougherty. “We are here today to give a tribute to a man, a husband and a father.” 

His grandson, Vincent Anthony DeFino Jr., spoke fondly of his late grandfather.

“I’m standing here today as the proud grandson of Judge Anthony J. DeFino and the son of his youngest child, Vincent Anthony DeFino Sr., the baby of his eight children. Grandpop was a South Philly kid through and through. He grew up on East Passyunk Avenue, served in the Army, worked his way through Temple Law School, and spent over 50 years in the courtroom as a lawyer and later as a respected Common Pleas Judge who handled some of the city’s toughest criminal cases. 

“But what we remember most is the man behind the robe. The guy who never forgot where he came from, who lit up every room with that big South Philly smile, and he taught every one of his 20 grandchildren that fairness, hard work, and kindness are what really matters. So today when the 2500 block of South 20th Street officially becomes ‘Judge Anthony J. DeFino Way,’ it feels like the City is simply putting his name where his heart always lived.

“Grandpop, we miss you every day, but your legacy of justice, humility and love now has a permanent home here in the neighborhood that you cherished.” 

Paul Davis’s Crime Beat column appears here weekly. He is also a frequent contributor to Broad + Liberty and Counterterrorism magazine. He can be reached at pauldavisoncrime.com.

Note: You can read my other Philly Daily Crime Beat columns via the link below:

 Paul Davis On Crime: My Philly Daily Crime Beat Columns