Pa. court relieves judges of duties

The state Supreme Court on Wednesday suspended Judge Mark Ciavarella and revoked the senior judge certification of Judge Michael Conahan, citing the pending criminal charges against them.

The order relieves Ciavarella of all judicial and administrative duties and directs that he not take any further administrative or judicial action in any case or proceeding. It also rescinds pending judicial assignments of Conahan.

Ciavarella’s suspension is with pay, pending further order of the court. As a senior judge, Conahan was paid on a per-diem basis. Ciavarella’s annual salary exceeds $150,000. As president judge, he was earning an additional $1,000 per year. As senior judge, Conahan was being paid $483 per day worked regardless of the number of cases or hours.

The action ensures Ciavarella, who resigned as president judge last week, will not be permitted to vote in the election of a new president judge scheduled for Friday.

The suspensions come two days after the U.S. Attorney’s Office charged the two jurists with accepting more than $2.6 million in kickbacks in exchange for rulings that benefited the PA Child Care juvenile detention center in Pittston Township and a sister facility in Butler Township.

The judges are scheduled to appear before Senior U.S. District Judge Edwin Kosik at 1 p.m. Feb. 12 to enter guilty pleas to charges of tax evasion and of devising a scheme to defraud the public of their honest services. A plea agreement calls for them to be sentenced to 87 months in prison.

In issuing the suspensions, the Supreme Court cited a “compelling and immediate need to protect and preserve the integrity” of the judicial system.

The order negates the need for the state Judicial Conduct Board to file a petition with the state Court of Judicial Discipline seeking an interim suspension.

Joseph Massa, chief counsel for the JCB, said he was prepared to file the petition if the Supreme Court did not act this week, even though Chester Muroski, acting president judge for Luzerne County, indicated he would not assign Ciavarella or Conahan any duties.

“We wanted them off the bench immediately,” Massa said. “They were still listed as judges and had the authority, at least on paper, to exercise their judicial office.”