Judge Correale Stevens To Swear In Pa. House

Steve Mocarsky of the Times Leader reports that Judge Correale Stevens, soon-to-be President Judge of the Superior Court, will perform the swearing-in ceremonies for the House of Representatives at the State Capital January 4, 2011.

“As a former member of the state House, it is a special privilege and honor for me to participate in the ceremony,” Stevens said on Tuesday.

Stevens, 64, of Butler Township, was invited by incoming Speaker of the House Sam Smith, R-Punxsutawney.

Stevens in November was unanimously elected to a five-year term as president judge of the Superior Court beginning on Jan. 9. In 2007, he was retained on the statewide appellate court to serve a second 10-year term.

A former state representative, Luzerne County district attorney and Common Pleas Court judge, Stevens graduated from Penn State University and from Dickinson School of Law, engaged in private law practice and served as solicitor for the city of Hazleton before his election to the state House in 1980 and re-election to three additional terms.

After serving four years as district attorney, Stevens was elected to the county Court of Common Pleas in 1991. He was elected to the state Superior Court in 1997 and won a retention vote by a nearly 2-to-1 margin in 2007.

It is going to be an honor for Tarah Toohil and the rest of the incoming class to be sworn in by a hometown native. (SOP picked a better picture of Judge Stevens to be posted).

So What Is Really Up In Luzerne County?

For a while I have been trying to tell people that the FBi didn't send agents in from Washington to arrest someone for accepting a $1,500.00 suit. It takes a lot of money and resources to mobilize such an investigative team. In discussions with friends I reminded them that the uninsured/under insured motorists issue has not been resolved or brought to light as of yet.

The Legal Intelligencer wrote this article on May 5, 2009. Its extensive contents seem to point in that direction.

In a potentially explosive document filed Monday, the attorneys for PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care claim that money paid to two former Luzerne County, Pa., judges was not a "kids for cash" arrangement, but was part of a corrupt courthouse system that included fixing civil cases.

The attorneys, who also represent Gregory Zappala and the juvenile detention facilities, allege that former Luzerne County President Judges Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan Jr. were paid more than $2.6 million for "favorable panels or results in automobile arbitration cases or other civil cases, and not for adjudication and commitment of the delinquents."

The child-care provider defendants in the case deny all knowledge of any alleged kickback scheme.

They claimed the "information relevant to this belief … is in the control of" the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. They also claimed that they could not conduct thorough discovery while the investigation is ongoing and that "if the outcome of the investigations is as provider defendants expects, all discovery will be unnecessary."

The allegations represent a clear departure from those made by federal authorities in criminal cases.

PA Child Care and Western PA Child Care, though, claim their allegations can be backed by Luzerne County Common Pleas Court judges and attorneys who have received target letters from federal investigators.


It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Judge Hugh Mundy To Retire

Just when Luzerne County's compliment of judges was returning to normal Judge Hugh Mundy announces his retirement today. In this article from Dave Janoski and the Citizen's Voice Mundy indicates health issues were the deciding factor but he will continue to hear cases as a senior judge.

Senator Jane Orie Charged By Allegheny County D.A. Zappala

On Wednesday, Jane Orie, 48, and her sister Janine Orie, 55, were arrested and charged with theft of services and criminal conspiracy according to this article by Paula Reed Ward of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In a 66-page grand jury presentment District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr.'s office outlined the charges against the pair.

Ms. Orie temporarily stepped down as Majority Whip in the Pennsylvania Senate in accordance with the rules.

But Jane Orie vowed to continue to fight the charges following her arraignment at the McCandless office of Magisterial District Judge William Wagner. She called them "personal," and said that Mr. Zappala is only going after her because her position on gambling threatens his father, a former state Supreme Court justice who works for an agency that promotes casinos. The District Attorney's father is former State Supreme Court Justice Stephen A. Zappala, now leader of the Pennsylvania Casino Association.

Back in January it was reported by KDKA out of Pittsburgh that Senator Orie was taking aim at the Zappalas during a Senate hearing for hiding their compensation in the Pennsylvania Casino Association.

"A member of the judiciary is receiving compensation and lobbying on behalf of the Casino Association, this is astounding," she said.

And Orie had strong words for former Chief Justice Zappala, the DA's father.

"Why the blatant disregard of the federal IRS filing stipulations? Why the cloak of secrecy?" she said on the Senate floor. "It shocks the conscience that the PA Casino Association would not list former PA Chief Justice Zappala. Quite frankly, it's unconscionable."

On Philly.com they write Jane Orie spoke briefly. "I know the threat I am to the Zappala family. This is about gambling. This is so personal by Steve Zappala he can't control himself."


Janine Orie is employed as a chief administrative judicial assistant for Justice Melvin and currently earns just under $67,000 annually. She began working for her sister in 1998 as a judicial secretary when Justice Melvin was on the state Superior Court.

Justice Melvin is not charged in the case, though it is her 2009 campaign for Supreme Court that prompted the investigation into illegal campaign work at Jane Orie's legislative offices. Justice Melvin's attorney, J. Alan Johnson, had no comment.

District Attorney Zappala is brother to Gregory Zappala, present owner and former partner with Robert Powell in PA Child Care, East and West.

There are some interesting facts in this article. The charges stem from allegations placing the time frame of 2001 to 2009. The total amount of services alleged to have been paid by the state range from $37,000 to $74,000. To put that into perspective the costs would have been $4625 to $9250 per year.

According to IssuesPA the cost of the Senate in 2005 was $106,334,000 dollars, a little over $2.1 million per Senator. Zappala is trying to make the case he was able to ascertain that .21 percent of that money was spent on campaign work being performed in Jane Orie Melvin's office. Another way to look at it is that out of $17,013,440 spent on the office of Senator Jane Orie Melvin(the result of the $160,334,000 since it was midpoint times 10 divided by 50 Senators) he was able to find $37,000.00 to $74,000.00 of misused money. After all the catcalls by the Democrats at Republican AG Tom Corbett's expense on Bonusgate charges how is Zappala going to justify to the voters of Allegheny County that the costs of his prosecution has merit?

Justice Ron Castille weighs in on the fight.

The looks came at national judicial conferences, when Castille, now the court's chief justice, was recognized as hailing from Pennsylvania.

Judges from other states would ask, " 'Isn't that the state where one justice tried to run over another justice?' " Castille recalled Friday, referring to the controversy that so damaged the court's image in the 1990s. "It took a long time to shake out the taint."

Now, a burgeoning scandal involving two Western Pennsylvania political families threatens to again bring notoriety to the state's highest court.

So, on Friday, Castille took a rare step for a chief justice of that court: He spoke out about the situation.

"It's not good, I can tell you that," he said in an interview.

In the early 1990s, then-Justice Larsen accused the elder Zappala of commandeering a car and trying to run him down outside the Four Seasons hotel in Philadelphia.

The Ories and the Zappalas are having a Hatfield/McCoy squabble. It will be the taxpayers who pay the price.

Two More For Luzerne Bench

Two Nominees Receive 50-0 vote in Pennsylvania Senate for Luzerne County Bench

Former DA Now Judge Named In Lawsuit

Posted: 12:00 AM
Updated: 8:09 AM

Lawyer accused of ‘smearing’
At issue is information about the sex life of a state trooper.
By Terrie Morgan-Besecker tmorgan@timesleader.com

The suit, filed in 2007, alleged Lori Connors and her father, Robert Pace, falsely accused Martin Connors of molesting his young daughter so that his ex-wife could gain an advantage in a custody dispute. The suit also named as defendants former District Attorney David Lupas and several county prosecutors and detectives who investigated the molestation allegation.