TimesLeader.com

May 16, 2009

Four vie for county judge post

All have years in legal profession and vow to bring integrity to bench.

RALPH NARDONE Times Leader Correspondent

Voters in Lackawanna County will be choosing from four experienced candidates to fill the newly formed Judge of the Court of Common Pleas seat on May 19.

Each one brings a lengthy resume steeped with years in the legal profession. The differences voters will need to weigh lie in the types of experience they possess.

Each candidate registered on both Democratic and Republican tickets.

Candidate Frank Castellano received the Republican Party endorsement and candidate James Tierney, the Democratic nod.

Another commonality with the candidates is their vow of integrity and character.

The new judge will serve a 10-year term.

Castellano currently serves as a prosecutor in the Lackawanna County juvenile division and has for the last 13 years. He claims personally handling over 6,000 conducting a long fight against the influence of drugs and gangs in local neighborhoods.

During a recent forum at the University of Scranton, he emphasized the new judge’s seat should have a focus on the “totality” of the cases and the people involved. The court should strive toward programs to help rehabilitate youth and families.

He stresses Lackawanna County’s court system is a “model” because of its specialization. Taking it a step further he believes a judge should see a case through from beginning to end. When various judges become involved in cases it could result in costly redundancy and a loss service specificity to the parties involved.

John Pesota, District Judge from Dickson City, points out he is the only candidate with actual time at the bench, serving as a judges in the Mid-Valley since 1999.

To keep honesty in the judiciary the Pesota campaign does not accept contributions from trial lawyers, he said. Judge campaigns are often funded by the attorneys who will be facing them causing a potential compromise of the public’s trust, he said.

A retired lieutenant colonel, Pesota sees a need to help local veterans.

Candidate Margaret Bisignani-Moyle offers extensive experienced as a trial attorney. She believes trial attorneys know what judges should do from the bench because they deal with them regularly. With 107 trials under her belt, she feels she can make the transition to behind the bench.

Moyle touts a 21-year history of prosecuting criminals and fighting for victims rights. During her tenure in Florida working under Janet Reno as the assistant district attorney she oversaw thousands of different criminal cases.

She believes politics don’t belong in the judiciary.

Candidate James Tierney is the only one with 13 years of civil litigation experience. He stressed at the forum the county needs a judge that can manage the cumbersome backlog of civil cases. A typical civil case could take up to 18 months to get to trial and four years before it is finally closed which he feels is costly for the taxpayer and unfair to the litigants.

Tierney works as the managing partner for a law firm and followed through on cases that went up to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He handles more than 1,000 civil cases each year.

With four experienced candidates to sort out, voters must choose among an experienced judge, civil litigator, trial attorney, and prosecutor. All promise to keep the new seat clean from misconduct and politics.