Frank Joseph Battisti (October 4, 1922 – October 19, 1994) was a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Battisti's career featured groundbreaking—and sometimes controversial—rulings, notably his finding in 1976 that the Cleveland public school system was guilty of racial segregation. Two years earlier, in 1974, he dismissed a case against eight members of the Ohio Army National Guard accused of violating the civil rights of four Kent State University students who were shot dead in 1970. In the 1980s, he presided over a high-profile case involving Cleveland autoworker John Demjanjuk, who was deported amid charges that he committed war crimes in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe. During his decades as a jurist, Battisti was honored by various professional and civic organizations, but he was also a target of criticism. Education and career Battisti was born to Italian immigrant parents Eugene and Jennie (Dalesandro) Battisti, on October 4, 1922, in the Hazelton district of Youngstown, Ohio, a steel-production center near the Pennsylvania border. After graduating from Youngstown's East High School, Battisti served as an army combat engineer in the United States Army during World War II. He was later commissioned as an officer in military intelligence. Upon his return from Europe, he received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1947 from Ohio University and a Juris Doctor in 1950 from Harvard Law School. Battisti served as assistant attorney general for the State of Ohio from 1950 to 1951. He was an attorney adviser for the United States Army Corps of Engineers from 1951 to 1952. He was an instructor of law at the Youngstown University Law School (now defunct) from 1952 to 1954. He was in private practice in Youngstown from 1952 to 1958. He was the first assistant director of law for Youngstown from 1954 to 1958. He was director and executive secretary of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra from 1954 to 1958. He was a Judge of the Mahoning County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas from 1958 to 1961. Federal judicial service Battisti was nominated by President John F. Kennedy on August 23, 1961, to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, to a new seat authorized by 75 Stat. 80. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on September 21, 1961, and received his commission on September 22, 1961. At the time of his appointment at age