Limited Power, Resources Hampered PA Judicial Conduct Board

The state Judicial Conduct Board's decision to table an investigation into a misconduct complaint against two former Luzerne County judges came amid concerns about its staffing limitations and the notion that an outside law enforcement probe could lead to penalties stiffer than mere professional sanctions, an attorney for the board said in a court filing.

Still, the attorney, Paul H. Titus, failed to account for a nearly two-year vacuum of inaction from the time the board received its first anonymous complaint against the judges, Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., and when it turned the document over to federal prosecutors.

Judicial Conduct Board member Edwin L. Klett told a state panel last month that the board received the complaint accusing Conahan and Ciavarella of nepotism, cronyism and case-fixing in September 2006, but failed to take action until federal prosecutors requested a copy in June or July 2008.

The Interbranch Commission has subpoenaed Judicial Conduct Board officials to testify at a hearing Feb. 2 in Harrisburg. The Commission's attorney, Arthur H. Stroyd Jr., said he had not received the filing, but noted Titus' contention that the complaints are confidential, "would be consistent with the position they've taken."

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Limited Power, Resources Hampered Judicial Misconduct Investigation

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