After a tour of active duty with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, where he attained the rank of first lieutenant, he became a sole practitioner of law in Lancaster.

[2] Communications Decency Act: In 1996, Buckwalter was part of a three-judge panel, and as such, was one of the first jurists to consider the First Amendment status of the internet.

Congress had enacted the CDA to restrict and criminalize the transmission of "obscene or indecent" materials to minors.

"Indecency has not been defined to exclude works of serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value, and therefore the Government's suggestion that it will not be used to prosecute publishers of such material is without foundation in the law itself.

A majority opinion, written by Justice Stevens, found the two provisions to be unconstitutionally vague and overbroad, and infringed upon the right to free expression.

In this summary judgment (March 8, 1999), Buckwalter discarded the NCAA's minimum test score requirement, as described in Proposition 16, in which incoming freshmen students were required to achieve a minimum score on either the SAT or ACT test as a condition of eligibility for freshmen athletics and/or athletically related financial aid.

[8] In the re-sentencing, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Buckwalter stated that Fumo lacked "a true sense of remorse" and had a "complete lack of respect for our legal framework," but also noted that Fumo had not been accused of bribery, extortion, or a crime of violence.

He stated the prosecution had overstepped Justice Department guidelines by charging the defendant with 137 criminal counts.