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FIRST AND foremost, we applaud U.S. District Judge Richard P. Conaboy for releasing most of the letters written to him regarding the sentencing of former Luzerne County judge Michael Toole. Conaboy took a critical step toward restoring trust in our battered judicial system.
Second, and almost as important, we discourage the knee-jerk urge to tar the letter writers solely because they defended Toole. We believe certain courthouse employees who wrote some of the letters might have shown poor judgment, but all had a right to speak out about the man they felt they knew. Many of the appeals for leniency sprang from decades of friendship, and such bonds should not be flippantly discounted.
Third, we give Conaboy added accolades for allowing access to a hearing at which attorneys argued for release of the letters. Conaboy convened the session in a conference room, a setting where reporters typically are not allowed, yet welcomed news media scrutiny.
As to the content of the letters, they paint a picture of a devoted father and friend, a man many found approachable, humorous and even-tempered. Some discuss Toole’s long battle with alcoholism, a disease only the unfamiliar dismiss as a simple question of willpower.
Thanks to Conaboy, you can read the letters (posted at www.timesleader.com) and decide for yourself. To us, the letters gave no strong reason to grant leniency. Conaboy apparently agreed, sentencing Toole on Friday to 30 months in prison, a term right in the middle of the 27- to 33- month range recommended under federal guidelines.
No matter how upstanding Toole had been, he used his power on the bench to rig the outcome of at least one legal proceeding. In so doing, he tore the very fabric of our judicial system.
By making the letters public, Conaboy did more than mete out justice.
He helped mend it.
By making the
letters public
Conaboy did more than mete out
justice.
He helped mend it.