Headlines and enemies followed Judge Michael Angelo Musmanno in equal numbers through his long career as a lawyer, jurist and author.

Judge Musmanno, born in Stowe in 1897, was the son of Italian immigrants.

As a young lawyer, he defended anarchists Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. For the rest of his life, he contended that the pair had been denied fair trials on murder and robbery charges before their execution in 1927.

Angered at abuse of miners by Pennsylvania's private Coal and Iron Police, he worked as a state legislator to have the force disbanded. His efforts in that cause included writing a short story that became the basis for a 1935 Hollywood movie called "Black Fury."

After service with the U.S. Navy during World War II, he became a prosecutor of Nazi war criminals at the Nuremburg Trials.

He served on the state Supreme Court from 1952 until his death in 1968.

His flamboyant behavior regularly drew the attention of Pittsburgh reporters. In December 1936, for example, he issued an opinion backing the existence of Santa Claus, Jack Frost and Cupid. The Bulletin Index, a weekly journal of Pittsburgh society events and cultural commentary, described his courtroom activities as "Musmanntics."

He drew some of his biggest Pittsburgh headlines during the winter of 1936-37 when, as criminal court president judge for Allegheny County he led a crusade against drunken driving. During his tenure in that position, everyone convicted of that offense went to jail, usually for 30 days.

On Dec. 17, 1936, The Bulletin Index noted Judge Musmanno's release of two woman jailed on drunken-driving charges 10 days before their full sentences had been served. Women were so sensitive, he said in court, "their reaction to imprisonment and humiliation is so much more acute ... that it is unjust to impose the same penalty upon them as is visited upon men for the same transgression." As a result, women would serve just two-thirds of the time imposed on a man for an identical offense.

He ordered 25 men serving sentences for alcohol-related offenses to attend the funeral for a Castle Shannon coal miner struck and killed by a drunken driver.

Wasco Bombar was "friendless and alone in America" and had been "destined for a pauper's grave," according to the Dec. 13 edition of The Pittsburgh Press.

A casket, a grave in Mt. Lebanon Cemetery and use of a North Side church were donated, and Judge Musmanno provided the eulogy. "[T]he pathetic and piteous nature of his passing may touch the hearts of some reckless motorists who will mend their ways and drive sober," Musmanno said.

Mr. Bombar's funeral was the last hurrah for the jurist's drunken-driving campaign. Judge Musmanno "had incurred the enmity of judges and attorneys alike by his sensational campaign against those he branded 'public enemies,' " the Post-Gazette reported on Jan. 29, 1937. Thirteen of his fellow county judges voted to remove him as criminal court's president judge. He continued to serve as a county judge.

Judge Musmanno bowed to majority will, but he left with a final blast. His colleagues "will never be able to live down this most horrible example of pettiness and unjudicial conduct," he said. His only regret was that because of his removal, "the drunken driver, the scourge and menace of our highways, should now be given encouragement."

Looking for more from the Post-Gazette? Join PG+, our members-only web site. You'll get exclusive sports content, opinion, financial information, discounts from retailers and restaurants, and more. Our introduction to PG+ gives you all the details.