"A ‘Breakdown" in the State’s Oversight

The state court administrator conceded Tuesday that a “breakdown” occurred in the state’s oversight of the Luzerne County court system, where former Judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. routinely violated juveniles’ rights as he and former Judge Michael T. Conahan were allegedly pocketing $2.8 million from backers of for-profit juvenile detention centers.

But, the responsibility for stopping Ciavarella and Conahan also rested with the judges, attorneys and residents who sat quiet and failed to inform state officials about the former judges’ alleged conduct, state Court Administrator Zygmont A. Pines told a state panel investigating the kids-for-cash scandal.

“Obviously we were not made aware of the criminal conduct,” Pines told the 11-member Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice. “We were not made aware, for whatever reason, of how juvenile cases were being disposed of in Luzerne County. To that extent, there was a breakdown, because obviously you cannot rectify a problem you are not made aware of.”

Another state agency, responsible for investigating and prosecuting charges of judicial misconduct, had been aware of Ciavarella and Conahan’s alleged abuses as early as September 2006, but failed to take any official action or disclose the allegations to Pines’ office.

The agency, the state Judicial Conduct Board, received an anonymous complaint accusing Conahan and Ciavarella of nepotism, cronyism and case-fixing, but kept it secret for nearly two years, until federal prosecutors requested a copy in June or July 2008, board member Edwin L. Klett told the panel.

Board members never saw the complaint until after it was leaked to the media, in September 2008, Klett said.

Full Article and Source:
Court Administrator, Conduct Board Blame ‘Breakdown’ of Awareness

Editorial: Judges’ Beaches Made of Quicksand

Who has not been smitten by the seashore? The majesty of the ocean, the fresh salt breeze and the relaxed lifestyle are indeed intoxicating. It’s an attraction rendered inaccessible to most of us, except for brief periods, by multimillion-dollar real estate prices.

The beach seems to have a particularly magnetic effect on some former and soon-to-be former members of the Luzerne County Court.

Judge Michael T. Toole is the latest judge to find that ill-gotten access to some of that high-priced shore-side real estate is a beach made of moral and legal quicksand.

He is the third Luzerne County judge to sacrifice his reputation, legal career and justice itself in order to rub shoulders with legitimate millionaires at some tony seaside retreats.

Judge Toole has agreed to plead guilty to federal charges that he made biased rulings in favor of a lawyer who allowed him free use of a beach house, apparently at the New Jersey shore, and to failing to pay taxes on $30,000 he received from another lawyer.

Federal judges who handle the potential sentences for Judge Toole, and for Mr. Conahan and Mr. Ciavarella if they are convicted, must heed the Constitution’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. But, given the wayward judges’ proclivity for the seaside, nice cells at a desert locale would be appropriate punishment.

Full Editorial and Source:
Judges’ Beaches Made of Quicksand

See Also:
Third Luzerne County Court Judge Charged With Corruption

Judge Disciplined for Second Time

For the second time in a decade, the state judicial conduct agency has disciplined San Diego Superior Court Judge Robert C. Coates for using his stature as a judge for personal matters.

The sharply worded public admonishment (PDF) handed down by the state Commission on Judicial Performance faulted Coates for using his judicial office and court resources on personal and non-court matters.

A public admonishment is the third-most-serious discipline the commission can hand out to a judge, behind censure and removal from the bench.

Coates was rebuked for similar conduct by the commission in 2000, and that past transgression was pointedly noted in the commission’s findings. It said that after that discipline, Coates had been counseled by presiding judges in San Diego and an ethics committee of the state judges association.

“Judges Coates’ recalcitrance manifests indifference toward the erosion of public confidence in the judiciary that results from irresponsible behavior by judges,” according to a statement from the commission. Coates was faulted for using judicial resources — including stationery, faxes and court employees — as well as the “prestige of judicial office” for his personal concerns when he wrote four letters in 2007 and 2008.

Full Article and Source:
Judge Disciplined for Misusing Office

Third Luzerne County Court Judge Charged With Corruption

A third Luzerne County Court judge has been charged with corruption, becoming the latest public servant to be caught up in a widening federal probe that has snared 20 people in the northeastern Pennsylvania county since January.
Judge Michael Toole, 49, will plead guilty to fraud and tax charges and resign, according to court documents filed yesterday in federal court in Scranton.

Prosecutors said Toole had “corruptly abused” his position by concealing his financial relationship with a lawyer who appeared before him in an insurance case. Toole, elected in 2003, faces a maximum sentence of 23 years in prison and a $350,000 fine.

Toole’s attorney, Frank Nocito, declined to comment.

President Judge Chester Muroski immediately removed Toole from his judicial responsibilities, leaving just seven judges on a bench that normally has 10.

“Clearly this action deals a severe blow to our already shorthanded Luzerne County Court,” Muroski said in a statement. “I have spoken with my remaining colleagues, and while we are all extremely disappointed with these recent developments, we are, once again, committed to making a total effort to maintain the business and function of the Luzerne County Court.

Two former county judges, Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., are accused of taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send juveniles to private detention facilities. They await trial on racketeering charges.

Besides Toole, the vacancies are for Ciavarella and Ann Lokuta, who was removed last December over misconduct allegations. She is appealing that ruling.

Full Article and Source:
Third Luzerne Judge is Charged

Judge Won’t Recuse

U.S. District Court Judge Frank Montalvo has denied a defense request to recuse himself and will continue presiding over the corruption case of lawyer Luther Jones and District Clerk Gilbert Sanchez.

Jones, 63, and Sanchez, 42, filed a motion asking Montalvo to step aside. A hearing on their recusal motion was scheduled for next Friday, but Montalvo last week preempted it by denying the request, court records show.

In his denial order, Montalvo wrote that Jones and Sanchez had not proved that he overstepped his role as the presiding judge. They alleged he was too intimate with the details of the government’s investigation and could no longer be fair to the suspects.

Montalvo disagreed.

“The undersigned faithfully followed the law and the constitution,” Montalvo stated of himself. “Therefore, no reasonable person would doubt the undersigned’s impartiality, nor is there anything which reflects such a high degree of antagonism as to make fair judgment impossible.”

With the recusal motion still undecided, Montalvo last month made a blockbuster ruling in favor of Sanchez and Jones. He dismissed three of five charges against each man. These included two bribery charges and one count of mail fraud. Montalvo ruled that the five-year statute of limitations lapsed before federal prosecutors obtained the indictments on the bribery counts.

Jones and Sanchez still face two felony counts of conspiracy. The government alleges that they tried to rig a $53 million contract for a company Jones represented.

Full Article and Source:
Judge Won’t Recuse Self in Corruption Case

County Probate Judge Arrested for DUI

Cherokee County Probate Judge Joshua Queen was arrested Friday morning on DUI charges. Queen also oversees the county’s drug and alcohol court program.

According to court records, Queen was pulled over by Highway Patrol at 2:03am not far from his home in Gaffney. The traffic citation states that Queen refused a blood-alcohol test. He was charged with DUI first offense and released from jail on personal recognizance bond a few hours later, though the magistrate’s office could not tell us the exact time of his bond hearing. Queen will appear in court again on October 7th.

Queen may be able to continue performing his duties as probate judge, which include presiding over estate legal matters and marriage certificates. According to Lee Coggiola of the SC Supreme Court’s Office of Disciplinary Council, DUI first offense is not considered a serious disciplinary charge. Therefore, the ODC would not petition the Supreme Court to suspend Queen unless someone files an official complaint. Coggiola said she is not at liberty to disclose whether or not a complaint has been filed.

As for his position overseeing Cherokee County’s Drug Court, a top administrator tells WSPA Queen has been relieved of his duties. A former drug court judge will now preside over the program.

Full Article and Source:
Cherokee Judge Arrested for DUI

Judge Kathryn George Under Investigation

The state Judicial Tenure Commission is investigating a Macomb County Probate judge who allegedly mishandled cases and was excessively absent from the bench.

The focus of the probe is Judge Kathryn George, who was removed as the probate court’s chief judge in January 2008 after it was revealed she was circumventing the court’s list of conservators and appointing an inordinate number of cases to one agency, Shelby Township-based ADDMS Guardianship Services.

The Detroit News in 2007 reported that George was sending most of her conservatorship cases to ADDMS, in violation of court rules requiring judges to use a rotation of several conservatorship agencies.

Now, Judicial Tenure Commission investigators are poring over court records, looking at cases handled by George, along with her attendance record, said Macomb Chief Probate Judge Kenneth Sanborn.

The probe marks at least the second time state court officials have investigated George, 58, a former registered nurse and Sterling Heights city councilwoman who has served on the bench since 2002.

In February 2008, the State Court Administrator’s Office commissioned Auburn Hills-based auditor The Whall Group to look into George’s handling of cases, along with allegations of excessive absences.

The audit found “flagrant violations” by ADDMS. The audit highlighted several cases in which the agency mishandled the estates of people it was charged to care for, including selling the assets of an 82-year-old man who was recovering from pneumonia in a nursing home.

The Whall Group found that ADDMS sold the entire contents of his home, “including furnishings, appliances, clothing and two vintage automobiles.”

In January 2008, after the Whall Group report was published, Carl Gromek, chief of staff of the State Court Administrator’s Office, removed George as the court’s chief judge, and ADDMS was barred from handling cases.

Seven months later, Sanborn signed an administrative order removing George from all cases involving wills and estates.

Full Article and Source:
Malcomb Judge Again Under Investigation

See Also:
Attorney Contests Removal

See Also:
My Mother

Wave of Hope for Lokuta

Midway through her hearing last Tuesday, former Judge Ann H. Lokuta detected a philosophical shift in the approach of the disciplinary panel now considering whether to reinstate her to the Luzerne County bench.

The usually domineering president judge emeritus of the panel, Richard A. Sprague, deferred questioning to the two other judges who heard Lokuta’s misconduct case – Lawrence J. O’Toole and Kelley T.D. Streib.

Their questions appeared to focus more on the culture of corruption in Luzerne County than the misconduct charges levied against Lokuta in 2006.

Separately, all three asked Lokuta what she wanted – what sanction she thought would be suitable given the circumstances of her removal last December, the allegations against her and the allegations against the two former Luzerne County judges who testified against her.

There was a renewed sense of equity and fairness in that Dauphin County courtroom, the same chamber where Lokuta practiced as a young attorney nearly three decades ago.

That shift, from a Court of Judicial Discipline that had given her defeat after defeat since the start of the misconduct process, has given Lokuta hope that she will be reinstated.

Full Article and Source:
Wave of Hope Sparks Lokuta

See Also:
Court to Render Decision on Lokuta Case

Lokuta’s Salary Request Denied

The state supreme court has denied a request by a former Luzerne County judge to restore her salary while she fights her removal from the bench.

The Court of Judicial Discipline removed Ann Lokuta from the bench last year over allegations she mistreated staff members.

Full Article and Source:
PA Supreme Court Denies Lokuta’s Salary Request

"Cash-for-Kids" Judges Given Partial Immunity

Two former county judges accused of taking millions of dollars in kickbacks to send juveniles to private detention facilities are partially immune from civil lawsuits, a federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled Friday.

The decision by U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo could make it harder for the people suing former Luzerne County judges Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. to collect damages.

Caputo said Ciavarella will avoid civil consequences for “the vast majority” of his conduct, because much of it occurred inside a courtroom, such as determination of delinquency and sentencing.

He said Conahan largely would not be immune, because his alleged actions were more administrative in nature, such as signing a placement agreement with the detention centers.

The decisions have no bearing on the federal criminal charges that Ciavarella and Conahan are currently facing in what has become known as the kids-for-cash scandal.

Marsha Levick, a lawyer with the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, a co-counsel for plaintiffs in the case, said Friday she did not consider the ruling to be a major setback. There are more than 400 named plaintiffs in the case, and lawyers are seeking class-action status.

“I think what’s important is the judges remained in the litigation,” Levick said. “Conahan is extremely vulnerable because most of what Conahan did with respect to the plaintiffs’ allegations, it was all outside the courtroom.”

Caputo said the case involved principles of judicial independence that date back hundreds of years and are designed to protect judges who make sincere mistakes, uphold the reputation of the courts and meet the need for the court system to render final judgments.

“I am not unmindful of the egregious nature of the alleged conduct presented in this case,” Caputo wrote. “This is, however, about the rule of law. It is about the rule of law in the face of popular opinion which would seek a finding directly contrary to the result the rule of law dictates.”

Full Article and Source:
2 PA Judges Given Partial Immunity

See Also:
State Had Complaint Against Kids-For-Cash Judges Since 2006