Allentown judge will make plea to get her job back

She was removed from bench last year following misconduct trial.

Maryesther Merlo, the Allentown district judge kicked off the bench for misconduct last year, will make a last-ditch plea for her job and pension Tuesday before the state Supreme Court.

Merlo, 52, was the subject of four years' worth of complaints about erratic behavior, absences and disrespect for lawyers and litigants in her district court in west Allentown before she was charged in the state Court of Judicial Discipline in 2010.

After a three-day trial last spring, the court found Merlo had brought her office into disrepute by violating the state Constitution and the code of conduct for judges. In October, a three-judge panel determined Merlo should be removed from the bench and forbidden from ever holding judicial office again.

Now, Merlo and her attorney, Samuel C. Stretton of Chester County, hope to convince six justices on the Supreme Court that removal from office, a sanction handed down to Pennsylvania district judges only five other times in the last decade, is too severe.

If the Supreme Court upholds the disciplinary court's decision, Merlo would lose her state pension. A spokeswoman said the State Employees Retirement System has not determined what Merlo's monthly pension payment would be because she has not applied to receive it.

In a 70-page brief, Stretton explains that although Merlo took responsibility for her behavior and took steps to correct it, the judges who voted to remove her from office ignored evidence that explained her actions.

During her three day trial, attorneys from the state board in charge of judicial discipline called 22 witnesses, including former Lehigh County President Judge William H. Platt and Court Administrator Gordon Roberts, who testified their efforts to address her work habits fell on deaf ears.


Full Article and Source:
Allentown judge will make plea to get her job back