Eachus Playing Knight In Shining Armour Over Juveniles

The dog and pony show Representative Todd Eachus is playing over the juvenile justice mess in Luzerne County is approaching the nauseating level. In today's Standard Speaker, his personal PR publication, Robert Swift writes about his latest attempt to placate the public by introducing two bills in the House aimed at juvenile justice reform.

Two initial bills to put the recommendations of the state commission investigating the Luzerne County courthouse scandal into effect were introduced Wednesday by House Majority Leader Todd Eachus.

One bill would create a $500,000 state fund to provide restitution payments to Luzerne County residents who didn't receive any court-ordered restitution because of state Supreme Court orders vacating convictions of juvenile offenders sentenced wrongly by two former judges to a privately run juvenile detention facility. When the convictions were vacated, the restitution awards were vacated, too.

The restitution measure by Eachus, D-116, Hazleton, provides for a court-appointed master to develop a system to determine the amount of restitution owed to a victim and distribute the funds accordingly.

"Because the Supreme Court vacated the rulings in Luzerne County related to the 'kids for cash' corruption scandal, many of the victims of those juvenile crimes have been deprived restitution for damages," Eachus said. "We must ensure that the victims of juvenile crime receive justice."

A second bill would expand the jurisdiction of the state Office of Victim Advocate to include victims of juvenile crime. This office was created in the 1990s so the interests of victims of crimes committed by adult offenders would be represented in court proceedings.

According to a savy lawyer you cannot have restitution in dismissed cases. If you read this website it appears that restitution must be tied to a conviction. This case appears to support that statement. There are victim advocates already assigned to the juvenile victims so it is hard to see the need to create state advocacy.

So the Knight in Shining Armour has once again created an issue so he appears to have solved it. Mr. Eachus has been asked repeatedly to explain his true relationship with Robert Powell, admitted felon, with respect to his efforts to secure funding for his proposed cargo airport. There has been no meaningful response.



In an interview on SamSon TV-13 with Kristen Buczynski Todd Eachus made these remarks about the juvenile scandal.

"Well in Luzerne County we have a particular place in this scandal, don't we? Our courthouse has been an embarrassment. We have juveniles in our county that have been wronged by the justice system. That needed to be righted.

In April, 2009 Senator Lisa Baker was attacking juvenile justice reform in Pennsylvania according to this release from Models for Change. Senate Bill 949 of 2009 was introduced by Senator Lisa Baker from Luzerne County on June 9, 2009. Sponsors: BAKER, PILEGGI, WASHINGTON, ERICKSON, GORDNER, ALLOWAY, MUSTO, KITCHEN, FERLO, O'PAKE, FONTANA, FARNESE, WARD, EARLL, BROWNE and ARGALL

Eachus introduced his bill on June 10, 2009 according to the state's legislative website. He was a day late and a dollar short.

Lewis Wetzel Donated To Paul Kanjorski

Judge Lewis Wetzel
On March 16, 2010 Attorney Lewis Wetzel as unaminmously confirmed by the Pennsylvania Senate to assume a judgeship on the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas.

In this article written by Andrew Seder of the Times Leader Senator Lisa Baker was quoted regarding Attorney Lewis's qualifications and integrity.

Baker told the committee that “Gov. Rendell has nominated two individuals with extensive experience, quality credentials and the proper justice-first approach required during these unusual and unsettling times. Each is committed to restoring the reputation of the Luzerne County Court, rather than enhancing their personal reputation. Neither is positioning for a next life in electoral politics.”

“Given the depth and breadth of the appalling wrongdoing revealed, community trust in the basic integrity and fairness of judges will be hard to re-establish. Their willingness to serve is commendable; their enthusiasm for the undertaking is encouraging. We have had an extremely painful reminder that the fair administration of justice is not a sure thing. Securing justice takes effort on the part of many, but it clearly depends most of all on ethical judges.”

The ink wasn't dry on that article before Wetzel made a quiet political donation. According to a Federal Election Commission filing by Pennsylvanians For Kanjorski Attorney Wetzel made a donation to the campaign of Paul Kanjorski in the amount of $500.00 on March 18, 2010 found on page 19.

Lewis was sworn in as judge the very next day. In this Times-Tribune article the author writes Afterward, Judge Wetzel said he had been disheartened by questions involving corruption charges - such as, "Are you next?" - and said it will take time for the court to restore its image.
"I seriously think it will take my two years and then maybe then some to make people feel all is well with the court," he said. Doesn't it seem odd that right before he is sworn in Wetzel feels the need to make a donation to Paul Kanjorski just under the wire?

Although Judge Wetzel was not a judge at the time of the donation, its timing seems to be suspect. If Attorney Wetzel was truly engaged to restore the court's image does he honestly believe that his action shows a step in the right direction?

Canon 7. Judges should refrain from political activity inappropriate to their judicial office.

(1) A judge or a candidate for election to judicial office should not:
(c) solicit funds for or pay an assessment or make a contribution to a political organization or candidate

Strictly speaking Attorney Wetzel was not a candidate in the sense he had to run for office but he certainly was a nominee for a position on the court. The reasoning for the first prohibition would probably be difficult to divorce from the second situation.

Your honor, with all due respect, it will take much longer when "Politics As Usual" prevails on the bench. One has to wonder whether Judge Burke would support this action on his watch.

One more question, your honor. If a Republican comes before your bench against a Democrat are you willing to recuse yourself due to an apparent bias toward one party?

Baker, Yudichak "Halt That Pension Request"

Area legislators want to halt Ciavarella's pension request. Bill O'Boyle of the Times Leader wrote a story today about the efforts of Senator Lisa Baker and Representative John Yudichak.

State Sen. Lisa Baker and state Rep. John Yudichak have asked the State Employees’ Retirement System to “use all of its powers” to freeze former Luzerne County President Judge Mark Ciavarella’s pension request.

In a letter dated April 2 to Nicholas J. Maiale, chairman of the state agency, Baker and Yudichak said they “respectfully urge in the strongest possible terms” that Ciavarella’s request be denied.

“This disgraced judge is arrogant and continues to show contemptible behavior,” Baker said Thursday. “He doesn’t get it.”

Now let's count. 5, 4, 3, 2, yep in keeping with history it will probably be about two days when Todd Eachus announces a request to halt the pension. His silence and being two steps behind on this matter is deafening to the conscience. Of course, he was more concerned with partisan politics in asking Attorney Tom Corbett to step down in the midst of one of the biggest public corruption investigations in the history of Pennsylvania. Probably makes sense to someone, just not me.

Even The Best Get Stumped

John Micek wrote a piece this morning on Democratic Rep. Todd Eachus's efforts to introduce legislation that would require courts to provide representation to juveniles in delinquency or truancy proceedings.

He wrote it before he was reminded that Republican Senator Lisa Baker already made her announcement to do the exact same thing two days ago.

She scheduled a news conference for 11:30A.M. this morning to make the announcement. I thought she would appreciate the banner.