John Matthew Cannella

Who was John Matthew Cannella?

John Matthew Cannella was a United States federal judge.

Born in New York, New York, Cannella received a B.S. from Fordham College in 1930 and an LL.B. from Fordham University School of Law in 1933. He was in private practice in New York City from 1935 to 1940 and was an assistant U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York from 1940 to 1942. During World War II, he was a U.S. Coast Guard Executive Officer to the Intelligence Service, Third Naval District, from 1942 to 1945. He was then an assistant counsel in the Office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue for New York City in 1945, and was a commissioner of the New York State Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity from 1945 to 1948, and of the New York State Department of Licenses from 1948 to 1949. He was an Associate justice of the New York Court of Special Sessions from 1949 to 1963.

On April 4, 1963, Cannella was nominated by President John F. Kennedy to a seat on the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York vacated by Irving R. Kaufman. Cannella was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 28, 1963, and received his commission on July 3, 1963.