Alan M. Rubenstein, retired senior judge and longtime district attorney in Bucks County, has died at 79

Alan M. Rubenstein, 79, of Holland, Bucks County, retired senior judge for the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas, longest-serving district attorney in Bucks County history, Hall of Fame boxing judge, mentor, and volunteer, died Friday, Aug. 22, of complications from several ailments at his home.

For 50 years, from his hiring as an assistant district attorney in 1972 to his retirement as senior judge a few years ago, Judge Rubenstein represented Bucks County residents at countless crime scenes and news conferences, in courtrooms, and on committees. He served 14 years, from 1986 to 1999, as district attorney in Bucks County, longer than any DA before him, and then 23 years as a judge and senior judge for the Court of Common Pleas.

“His impact on Bucks County will be felt for generations,” current Bucks County District Attorney Jennifer Schorn said in a tribute. U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick said on Facebook: “Alan Rubenstein has never been just a name. It has stood as a symbol of justice, strength, and integrity.”

He was elected judge in 1999 and retained in 2009 and 2019. He told The Inquirer in 2000 that making the transition from prosecutor to judge was sometimes jarring. “I want to say, ‘Objection, your honor,’ until I realize I am the judge,” he said.

He handled hundreds of high-profile cases of murder, burglary, kidnapping, forgery, drug dealing, and domestic abuse as both a prosecutor and judge. “In criminal court, bad people are on their best behavior,” he said. “In family court, good people are on their absolutely worst behavior.”

He told the story often of visiting City Hall courtrooms as a teen and being “dazzled” by the lawyers. “I thought, ‘What a terrific way to make a buck,’” he said.

He was born in Philadelphia and graduated from Overbrook High School in 1964 and Temple University in 1967. “I have Cheez Whiz running through my blood,” he said.

As district attorney in Doylestown, he focused on drug dealers and drunk drivers. He championed tough sentences for criminals in the 1980s and ‘90s, and won several death-penalty verdicts. He was reelected three times.

He served as president of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association in 1992 and on an advisory committee for a federal drug task force. He became a senior judge in 2021 at the mandatory full-time retirement age of 75.

Always expressive and sometimes brash, Judge Rubenstein admittedly embraced public relations nearly as much as public service. His rising career, punctuated by sensational cases and notable quotes, was featured often in The Inquirer, Daily News, and other publications.

» READ MORE: "You're a 20-year-old man who has basically ruined your life because of a foolish plot," Judge Rubenstein said.

“I have not been afraid to take a stand,” he said in 2000. “Nobody likes it, but as DA you should speak out.” His son Justin said: “He was extremely intense when it came to his work.”

Before becoming district attorney, he was an assistant DA, county chief of trials, chief of the Homicide Division, and first assistant DA. Colleagues praised his “political independence” and “integrity,” and called him “a giant among us” in tributes.

“I will leave with a great sense of satisfaction,” he said in 2000 when he left the district attorney’s office for the bench. “I liked wearing the white hat.”

He became interested in boxing as a boy while watching TV with his father and grandfather, and, after scoring fights at home for years, earned credentials to judge professional fights in 1995. He was licensed in five states, worked mostly in Atlantic City and Philadelphia, and scored more than 700 bouts over 25 years, several for important world championships.

Boxing gloves and old photos at notable fights sat on shelves in his DA’s office and judge’s chamber. He volunteered at several boxing organizations and was inducted into the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame in 2018.

“I like the combat,” he told the Daily News in 1999. “To me, it’s the purest sport.”

Alan Morris Rubenstein was born March 13, 1946. He was a backup catcher for the Overbrook junior varsity baseball team, he liked to say later, and spent so much time on the bench that his teammates nicknamed him Judge.

In 1998, however, he was inducted into the school’s lifetime achievement hall of fame.

» READ MORE: Judge Rubenstein sentences a man to death for double homicide

He was always especially interested in politics, history, and the law, and he earned a bachelor’s degree in history at Temple and law degree in 1970 at the University of Toledo College of Law. He was an editor of the Law Review at Toledo and worked briefly for a Philadelphia firm after law school before joining the district attorney’s office in Bucks County.

He kept noticing Marilynn Horwitz on the bus to work, so he asked her for a date one day. They married in 1972, had sons Sam and Justin, and lived in Southampton, Bensalem, and Holland.

“His life was one of purpose, conviction, and strength,” his family said in a tribute. “He believed deeply in doing what was right even when it wasn’t easy.”

At work, Judge Rubenstein favored cuff links and monogrammed dress shirts. Outside the courtroom, he followed the Phillies, fished, and doted on his sons and their families.

Friends said he had an “earthquake of a laugh” and a “rapier wit.” One said: “What a perfect gentleman. Kind, full of hope, down to earth, and so easy to speak to.”

Bucks County District Court Judge Gary Gambardella said on Facebook: “He was, and forever will be, the best there ever was.”

In addition to his wife and sons, Judge Rubenstein is survived by five grandchildren and other relatives.

Services were held earlier.

Donations in his name may be made to Shriners Hospitals for Children, Box 947765, Atlanta, Ga., 30394.