Newspaper: Thorns to greedy PA judges

From the editorial pages of The Pottstown Mercury:

THORNS to Pennsylvania judges for disregarding the tax burden on Pennsylvania residents by leasing luxury automobiles including Cadillacs, Mercedes and high-end SUVs. The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported Sunday that 25 jurists in the state lease cars under a provision that reimburses them up to $600 a month; 13 opt not to lease vehicles. The state began paying for cars for appellate judges in 1990, and the practice continues despite other elected and appointed state officials who use cheaper fleet vehicles to keep costs down. The state's top judges are among the nation's highest paid. Some make in excess of $175,000 a year, yet lease high-end vehicles at taxpayer expense. Among the judges' cars are $568 a month for a 2010 Cadillac driven by Chief Justice Ronald Castille and $450 a month for a 2010 Mercedes Benz driven by Superior Court Judge Sallie Updyke Mundy. Supreme Court Justice Max Baer leases a 2010 GMC Acadia from his brother's Washington dealership for $510 a month. One person quoted in the news article called it symbolic of a "culture of arrogance." Sound like Harrisburg?

Roses to state rep for helping remodel Boyertown office - pottsmerc.com

Pay raise for PA politicians kicks in Dec. 1

Christmas comes early for members of the Pennsylvania Legislature, already among the highest paid "public servants" in the United States.

An annual automatic cost-of-living increase kicks in Dec. 1 for state lawmakers, judges and other elected officials.

From The Associated Press:

Pennsylvania's legislators, judges and top state officials are about to get automatic pay raises of 1.7 percent. Newly elected and returning legislators will get their raises starting Dec. 1, officials said Monday.

The annual salaries for rank-and-file legislators will increase from $78,315 to $79,623. Salaries for legislative floor leaders will rise from $113,468 to $115,364.

Read the full story here.

Reform group: No pay raise for state officials

A citizens' group that led the fight to repeal the 2005 legislative pay raise is demanding Pennsylvania officials suspend their annual COLA increase.

RockTheCapital.org says the 2.8% cost-of-living adjustment for legislators, members of the Rendell administration and judges is a "stealth" pay raise.

The base salary of a Pennsylvania lawmaker goes up to $78,315 on Dec. 1. Legislative leaders earn more. For example, the Senate Pro Tempore would earn $118,095 after the COLA kicks in.

From Eric Epstein, coordinator of RockTheCapital.org:

"At a time when working class families are getting clobbered, the political class is making plans to jet to New York City and whine and dine in the lap of luxury. Those in the 'no whine zone' are prospering. Speaker McCall will be making $122,000, and Supreme Court Chief Justice Ron Castille will be hauling in $192,000. Rank-and-file lawmakers will have to get by on $78,300 with per diems, a state car, and full benefits."

Epstein said the Dec. 1 pay raise is particularly galling because Pennsylvania elected officials have done such a poor job of managing state revenues.

"No one should be rewarded for creating a $500 million deficit," Epstein said. "Taking a COLA this year is like stealing your children's savings' bonds."

RockTheCapital.org, one of several citizen reform groups that fought to repeal the 2005 middle-of-the-night pay raise, believes that a nonpartisan and independent compensation commission should determine future pay adjustments for elected and appointed officials.

"State government is a publicly held corporation with by-laws that specifically exclude COLAS (Article III, Section VIII)," Epstein said. "If lawmakers want a bonus plan then they need to submit a proposal to taxpayers for ratification."

For more on the group's reform agenda, visit RockTheCapital.org

Newspaper: Officials should give up pay raise

The Pottstown Mercury is urging Pennsylvania legislators and judges to give up their annual cost-of-living increase in light of the suffering so many fellow Pennsylvanians are facing during the economic slowdown. Pennsylvania legislators are among the highest paid in the country.

From The Mercury's editorial page:

THORNS for a system that continues to reward Pennsylvania lawmakers and state judges while nearly every other sector — public and private — is facing cutbacks. State lawmakers and judges are in line for 2.8 percent cost-of-living raises that will raise the pay for rank and file members of the state House and Senate to just over $78,000 starting next month. Members of leadership will get even more. Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Castille's salary is going up to nearly $192,000. The pay for county judges will be about $162,000. The same increases are due for Gov. Ed Rendell and his cabinet secretaries. The governor says he might suspend them as part of budgetary belt-tightening. At a time when the mayor of Philadelphia is writing himself a pay cut and other municipal managers are seeing salaries frozen in tight 2009 budgets, the lawmakers in Pennsylvania could make a sacrifice, too. Perhaps they should read the headlines in the state instead of the fine print in their salary package and live in the real world.

Pennsylvania's chief bully

Following in the footsteps of reformers Tim Potts and Russ Diamond, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist Brad Bumstead piles it on Ron Castille, the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Writing about Castille's threats regarding the lawsuit brought by the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters against former Chief Justice Ralph Cappy, Bumstead says:

The statement by Castille smacked of intimidation.

It's understandable that Castille might see fit to deny the charges on behalf of the court. But his threat only gave new life to the issue.

Read "Castille's bully bench" here

Russ Diamond: 'Disorder in the Court'

A guest column today by Russ Diamond on the lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and threats made by Chief Justice Ron Castille against the League of Women Voters and its attorney for bringing the lawsuit.

Disorder in the Court
By Russ Diamond

Any hope for independent and impartially dispensed justice in Pennsylvania took a turn for the worse this week, as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Ronald Castille further revealed his true temperament in response to yet another round of criticism of the Court.

Bristling over a federal lawsuit filed by the apolitical League of Women Voters alleging stunningly corrupt actions by former Chief Justice Ralph Cappy that violated the League's due process rights, Castille threatened to use the iron fist of disciplinary action against League attorney Paul Rossi.

The outburst was a repeat of Castille's thinly veiled threat against Duquesne law professor Bruce Ledewitz last year after Ledewitz rightly called the Court's ruling retaining its clearly unconstitutional pay raise a "judicial swindle." That threat, made in the form of a letter to the law school that shocked the public and the Chairman of the Senate State Government Committee, led a Pittsburgh newspaper to cast Castille in the role of a "petty tyrant."

Last December, Castille prematurely divulged information about a Court decision regarding casino owner Louis DeNaples to a Philadelphia newspaper columnist outside a bar in New York City. The League's suit alleges that Castille made a similarly inappropriate early admission regarding the Court's 2006 slots law ruling with a "wink and a nod" to a member of the General Assembly.

In April, Castille lashed out at the Senate for its unwillingness to rubber-stamp the Governor's unilateral picks to fill four vacant seats on the appellate courts. For someone who proclaimed a desire to de-politicize the Court upon ascending to its top spot, Castille has only further embroiled the entire judicial system in petty political battles.

In the unlikely event the League's allegations are found to be completely baseless, the public threat to its counsel by Castille poisons any subsequent disciplinary action that may be undertaken. His indiscretion regarding not-yet-public rulings is a sign of an inability to deliver the dignity his position demands. His aggressiveness toward the Senate indicates a level of impatience unacceptable for any sitting judge.

Considering that the Supreme Court ultimately lords over the entire judicial system, the legal profession and the disciplinary processes for judges and lawyers, how can any Pennsylvanian have confidence in the courts with Castille at the helm? How can any citizen enter any court of this Commonwealth and expect rational justice to be dispensed while Castille is ranting and bullying from the apex of the judicial pyramid?

Less than five months into his tenure as the state's top judge, Castille's conduct indicates that he is not suited for the position. Although he expects Pennsylvanians to respect his authority, such authority must first be wielded with respectability.

While the League's federal complaint illustrates some of the underlying reasons for Pennsylvania's crisis of confidence, Castille's thuggish approach exacerbates it.

Pennsylvania cannot afford to wait until 2013 — when Castille is scheduled for a retention vote — to clear the decks and start rebuilding citizen confidence. For the good of the Commonwealth he should resign, effective immediately, and allow another jurist with a more appropriate temperament assume the duties of Chief Justice.

In the absence of a voluntary resignation, members of the General Assembly who are truly concerned about Pennsylvania's future should explore the possibility of removing Castille from office for his short but shockingly effective role in undermining public confidence in the judicial system.

Russ Diamond is founder and chairman of PA Clean Sweep, a citizens group pushing for reform of Pennsylvania government. Fore more information, visit www.pacleansweep.com

Tim Potts on judicial cowardice in Pennsylvania

Tim Potts, who operates the reform site DemocracyRisingPA, weighs in on the League of Women Voters lawsuit against the Ralph Cappy, the former chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the threats made by the current chief justice, Ron Castille, against the League and its attorney.

Potts writes:

"Most people recognize the furtive plotting of the pay raise as an unparalleled act of political cowardice. Less conspicuous is the courage some lawmakers displayed in assisting the League. If the case goes forward, those lawmakers will exhibit a degree of courage that has been absent from PA politics for decades.

Sadly, the chief justices don't understand that they are servants, not masters, and that citizens have a right to know what their government is doing before the fact, not just after. The League's lawsuit must come as a shocking reminder to these arrogant jurists that the government belongs to the citizens, not to them, and we citizens are not going away until we get it back."

Read the full post, "Cappy & Castille Confuse Courage & Cowardice," at the DemocracyRisingPA Web site.

For more views and background on the growing controversy, read my earlier post, "When Judges Are Accused of Breaking The Law," as well as "Cappy & Castille Confuse Courage & Cowardice" at POLICY BLOG and "Lawsuit alleges backroom dealings by Pa.'s former top judge" in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Also, Russ Diamond has something to say about "Disorder in the Court" at PACleanSweep.com

When judges are accused of breaking the law

A fascinating legal battle may play itself out in the federal courts involving actions by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on two of the most controversial rulings the court made in recent years.

A lawsuit filed by the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters against Pennsylvania's former chief justice alleges that the state's top court upheld the 2004 slot-machine gambling law in exchange for approval of a 2005 judicial pay raise.

The lawsuit, filed Monday in federal court in Harrisburg, names former Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy as the defendant and cited allegations and information provided by unnamed legislators, according to The Associated Press. The suit alleges Cappy used secret meetings with legislators to negotiate the ruling on the slots law and a pay raise for more than 1,000 judges, including himself and six other Supreme Court justices, the wire service says.

Cappy resigned from the court in January, two full years before his term expired. Another justice who served on the court during the controversial rulings resigned earlier and a third justice failed to win his retention election. All three departures have been tied to the July 2005 pay raise fiasco, which also claimed 55 incumbent state lawmakers so far.

The 17-page lawsuit drew immediate denials from Cappy and a threat by his successor, Ronald Castille. "The filing parties may have subjected themselves to sanctions, and the attorney may have subjected himself to disciplinary action," Chief Justice Castille said in a written statement issued Tuesday.

It's the strong-arm tactics by Castille that are drawing the most attention.

"It's totally inappropriate for the chief justice to threaten a lawyer for allegations made in federal court against the courts or any judge," Professor Bruce Ledewitz of the Duquesne Law School told The Harrisburg Patriot-News.

Veteran political columnist John Baer of The Philadelphia Daily News, said the lawsuit won't help the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's already battered image.

Baer writes:

"There are lots of questions here, not least of which is whether this suit gets very far. Federal courts generally aren't inclined to play in state issues. A similar though broader suit filed by Common Cause in 2006 failed in one federal court and is pending appeal in another. But for Pennsylvania, there's nothing in here that strikes me as a stretch. And the fundamental question of whether we have separation of powers or collusion of the powerful is a critical one. It should be answered."

And Lowman S. Henry, writing at Lincoln Blog, says the threats by Castille amount to "official repression."

Henry writes:

"Castille's comments yesterday were inappropriate and frankly unbecoming a member of the bench. They betrayed a temperament that calls into question his ability to function effectively as a member of the high court, much less its chief justice. In fact, Castille's outright threats against the lawyers and plaintiffs in the League of Women Voters case are so egregious they merit review, and possible impeachment proceedings by the General Assembly. Simply put, he is now incapable of serving as an unbiased jurist."

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which is elected by the voters, has never enjoyed a national reputation for setting new legal ground. It's often a refuge for former politicians. Under Cappy's leadership, the court's reputation has suffered even more thanks to controversial rulings on the flawed casino gambling bill and the ill-fated pay raise that politicians gave themselves and judges.

Going after the League of Women Voters and threatening a lawyer for filing a lawsuit on behalf of his client is not going to help the court's reputation ... or give Pennsylvania residents any assurance that the courts are working on behalf of the people.

As Lowman Henry pointed out in a Monday post at Lincoln Blog:

"The illusion spun by the legal profession that judges are above politics has been popped, by of all groups, the League of Women Voters. The League of Women Voters is not known for its political activism, preferring instead to hue to a lower profile educational role. The back room dealing involved with the now infamous middle-of-the-night pay grab, however, proved to be too much for the league to take."

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review put the matter in proper perspective in an editorial the newspaper published today:

"If the allegations are true, they would represent a level of public corruption unparalleled in Keystone State history. If they are not, however, the credibility of the plaintiff will be -- and should be -- damaged beyond repair."

The point is that this lawsuit should be allowed to play itself out in the federal courts, without interference or threats from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. No one is above the law, including the distinguished past and present members of the state's high court.

Cappy calls slots-pay raise lawsuit 'preposterous'

Pennsylvania's former chief justice says there is no truth to a lawsuit that accuses him of negotiating a judicial pay raise in exchange for the court upholding the state's slot-machine gambling law, The Associated Press is reporting today.

The League of Women Voters filed the lawsuit against former Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph Cappy on Monday in federal court in Harrisburg.

In a statement Tuesday, Cappy called the allegations by unnamed legislators "preposterous" and vowed to vigorously defend himself in court, the AP reports.

The league says the alleged deal violates its constitutional rights to due process, since the league was one of the groups that filed the lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the state's 2004 slots law, according to the wire service.

Cappy, one of the original backers of the ill-fated 2005 pay raise along with Gov. Ed Rendell and Senate GOP leadership, "retired" from the bench in January.

Read the original story, "Lawsuit: Pa. justices won pay raise for upholding slots law," here.

The pay raise ended up costing 55 lawmakers their jobs and four of the seven justices who served on the court in 2005 are no longer on the court. One was thrown off the bench by voters while two others eventually "retired."

NY judges sue for pay raises

When Pennsylvania judges wanted a pay raise in 2005, they conspired with Gov. Ed Rendell and legislative leaders to push through a middle-of-the-night pay raise.

The public outcry over the payjacking led to the ouster of a Supreme Court justice by voters in 2005, the retirement or ouster of 55 lawmakers in 2006 and the retirement of the chief justice in 2007 (See Pennsylvania Pay Raise Claims Another Victim).

The only person who survived the political fallout from the ill-fated pay raise vote was Gov. Ed Rendell, who was reelected to a second term.

New York judges also want a pay raise, but unlike Pennsylvania, the N.Y. judges can't get the governor and state legislature to make a back-room deal.

Instead, the state's chief justice sued Gov. David Paterson and the leaders of the Legislature to try to force them to raise judges' salaries, according to DemocratANDChronicle.com, the Web site of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle newspaper.