Gavel Grab

Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, a Justice at Stake partner, has issued a report recommending a series of changes to the state’s Judicial Discipline System, in order to restore public trust.

Maintaining public confidence in the courts requires certainty that there is a strong judicial discipline system to investigate and punish judicial misconduct, the group said in a press release. But as PMC Deputy Director Shira J. Goodman noted, “In the wake of the Luzerne County scandal, Pennsylvanians are not sure this is the case.  Steps must be taken to restore public trust in the System.”

The report’s recommendations include enhancing the accountability, transparency, and independence of the Judicial Discipline System; improving service to those who complain about judicial conduct; and sufficiently funding the system.

You can learn about the Luzerne County scandal from Gavel Grab.

At least two women, and possibly one more, will gain seats on the 10-member Luzerne County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas after November’s general election, as a result of primary balloting this week.

From a field of 16 candidates running in the primary contest, seven candidates for six judgeships emerged from Tuesday’s primary. Two of four female candidates who were running secured a place on both political parties’ ballots, and a third secured a place on one party’s ballot. The court currently has one female judge.

Gender may have played a role in the primary contest results for judgeships on a court that has been shaken by scandal, suggested a Wilkes-Barre Times Leader article, entitled “Women to change order of Luzerne County court.” Three male judges were ousted as a result of scandal.

“Sometimes, in the wake of a scandal, women are considered more favorably as a candidate because they are not part of the ‘Old Boy’s Network,’” said political scientist G. Terry Madonna of Franklin and Marshall College. Read more

Now that merit selection has been extended to the county division of Lake Superior Court in Indiana, other Indiana counties ought to take note, retired Arizona Chief Justice Chief Justice Ruth V. McGregor writes.

In a letter to the editor of NWI Times,  Justice McGregor says the wisdom of moving away from contested judicial elections can be appreciated by looking at elections in Pennsylvania. Sixteen candidates competing for six seats in Luzerne County raised more than $1 million for the primary (see Gavel Grab), and 13 of them took contributions from local lawyers, she says. She adds:

“Concerns about cash in the courtroom — whether judges can impartially decide cases in which campaign contributors are involved — are not an issue in a merit selection and retention system, where judges are selected based on their qualifications and retained based on their performance on the bench.”

Justice McGregor is a board member of Justice at Stake and Chair, O’Connor Judicial Selection Initiative, of the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver. IAALS is a JAS partner.

Sixteen candidates who are competing in a primary election to sit on the Luzerne County, Pa. bench have raised more than a combined $1 million so far.

The candidates are running for six judgeships on the 10-member county bench, according to an article in The Citizens’ Voice. The new judges, the article said, will “play a key role in rehabilitating an institution that has been undermined by scandal, hobbled by mismanagement and depopulated by corruption convictions, disciplinary action and retirement.”

The 16 candidates had raised more than $1.2 million and spent more than $930,000 by May 5, The Standard Speaker reported. Democratic and Republican voters will pick their nominees on May 17, and because cross-filing is permitted in Pennsylvania, as few as six and as many as 12 candidates could emerge from the primary to compete in the November general election.

One of the seats up for grabs was previously held by Ann H. Lokuta. The state Court of Judicial Discipline removed her in 2008, and the state Supreme Court upheld that action this year.

Two of the seats are up for election because of criminal cases involving former Judges Michael T. Toole and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. Toole pleaded guilty to charges of honest services fraud and evading taxes (see Gavel Grab).  Ciavarella was convicted of multiple counts, including racketeering and conspiracy, in what was called the “cash for kids” scandal (click here for earlier Gavel Grab posts).

In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts:

• The White House has started circulating a draft executive order that would require those companies seeking federal contracts to disclose political contributions to third-party groups running ads that attack or support candidates, according to a Politico article.

• Pennsylvania state Sen. Jane Orie’s public corruption retrial will be postponed until October, to allow time for the state Supreme Court to consider an appeal to bar the retrial, the Associated Press reported. Orie is accused of using  state resources for the political campaigns of herself and her sister, state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin (see Gavel Grab).

• Federal prosecutors, responding to court pleadings by defense lawyers for convicted former Luzerne County (Pa.) Judge Mark A.  Ciavarella Jr., argued there was enough evidence to support a jury’s verdict finding him guilty of racketeering and other charges, according to a Wilkes-Barre Times Leader article.

In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts:

• A panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton’s ruling last year that enjoined the most controversial sections of Arizona’s new immigration law from taking effect, according to a Los Angeles Times article. To learn about her ruling, see Gavel Grab.

• Former Judge Michael Toole of Luzerne County, Pa. was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his guilty plea to corruption and tax-related charges, according to a Wilkes-Barre Times Leader article. For background on his case, see Gavel Grab.

• Iowa Supreme Court Justice Tom Waterman, newly appointed to the court, used a panel discussion to defend Iowa’s merit system of selecting judges. He was critical of judicial selection in neighboring Illinois, where state Supreme Court justices are elected, according to a Quad-City Times article. Justice Waterman said, “Across the river, millions of dollars are poured into races and lawyers and judges are making promises.”

• A judicial selection reform plan floated by retired Michigan Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Weaver should be put “on the front burner” for discussion by lawmakers, said an editorial in the Livingston (Mich.) Daily.

In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts:

• Lawyers for former Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. of Luzerne County, Pa. appealed his conviction on seven of 12 criminal counts of corruption in the “cash for kids” scandal, according to a Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice article.

• The future for Pennsylania state Sen. Jane Orie may rest on scientists’ opinions, after a judge assailed forged documents and declared a mistrial in Orie’s corruption case, an Associated Press article reported. Orie is accused of using  state resources for the political campaigns of herself and her sister, state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin (see Gavel Grab).

• Goodwin Liu is a “brilliant professor” of law at a young age who deserves confirmation by the Senate to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a Washington Post editorial said about his controversial nomination.

A federal court jury returned a mixed verdict today in the corruption case of former Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., 61, of Luzerne County, Pa.

He was accused in an unusual courtroom scandal case, and was charged with accepting kickbacks in exchange for ordering youthful offenders to a privately operated juvenile detention facility. It became known as the “cash for kids” scandal.

Charged with 39 counts, Ciavarella was convicted on 12 counts, including racketeering and conspiracy, according to an Associated Press article. He was acquitted of 27 counts, including extortion.

Before he left the bench in disgrace two years ago, Ciavarella presided over a juvenile courtroom. Today, he vowed afterward to fight the jury’s decision, WNEP reported.

Thousands of juvenile convictions issued by Ciavarella were later dismissed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. It said he ran his courtroom with “complete disregard for the constitutional rights of the juveniles.”

Ciavarella faces as much as 157 years in prison, but prosecutors said the range of imprisonment under federal sentencing guidelines would be about 12 1/2 to 15 1/2 years. To learn more about the scandal, check out Gavel Grab.

In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts:

• Parallel bills were introduced in the House and Senate to set up an independent office to investigate judges who run afoul of the law, according to a Wall Street Journal article. The office would be barred from investigating the merits of specific legal decisions.

• The Senate approved a three-month extension of key provisions of the USA Patriot Act, a far shorter extension than the House passed a day earlier, Politico reported. To learn about controversy surrounding the law, click here for Gavel Grab.

• Former Luzerne County, Pa. Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., on trial in the “cash-for-kids” scandal, admitted under questioning by a prosecutor that he had committed acts of tax fraud and conspiracy to defraud, the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice reported.

In these other dispatches about fair and impartial courts:

• Justice Clarence Thomas’ tradition of not speaking during Supreme Court oral arguments will have a five-year anniversary Tuesday, according to a New York Times article that explores the reasons for his “epic silence” on the bench.

• These commentaries appeared about judicial nominations in Washington: Palm Beach Sun Sentinel, by Stephen L. Goldstein, “Democrats have allowed GOP to place stranglehold on judicial branch;” San Antonio Express-News editorial, “Speed up process on nominations;” and Grand Rapids Press editorial, “How to end the judicial blockade in Congress.”

• An article in the Scranton Times-Tribune recapped the first week of testimony in the criminal trial of former Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Judge Mark Ciavarella Jr., charged in the so-called “kids for cash” scheme.