Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

A member of the state Supreme Court is caught up in the email pornography scandal in the attorney general’s office. Pennsylvania chief justice Ronald Castille issued a news release today saying Justice Seamus McCaffrey was the sender or recipient of 234 emails with sexually explicit material or pornography in them. Castille says McCaffrey sent most of the emails to a now-retired agent with the AG’s office, who then forwarded them to other. The circulation of porn in the attorney general’s office happened from late 2008 until early 2012, and has led to the resignation of several people, including now-former DEP Secretary Chris Abruzzo. The emails surfaced during a review of how the Jerry Sandusky case at Penn State was handled by the attorney general's office. Castille says the attorney general’s office told him the 234 emails involving McCaffrey contained 1,502 sexually explicit images and 60 sexually explicit video files, some of which were duplicates. He estimated the number...

HARRISBURG — Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Ronald D. Castille today presented a final update on how the judiciary has addressed recommendations to bolster the state’s juvenile justice system after failures in Luzerne County led to the federal prosecution of two judges. The chief justice’s eight-page report outlines a statewide revamping of many court rules and practices taken by the court over the past three years. It was presented at the Juvenile Justice Academy held in Hershey. The Judicial Education Department of the AOPC hosted the first Juvenile Justice Academy as part of its spring symposium to familiarize juvenile court judges with the latest law, rules and practice of adjudicating young offenders. The faculty includes leading juvenile justice practitioners and legal experts. The changes outlined by the chief justice were based on a series of recommendations from the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice, which was chaired by Supreme Court appointee Senior Judge Joh...

HARRISBURG — The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has adopted changes designed to speed the appellate review of cases where child offenders are placed outside their homes in court delinquency matters. The changes made to the state’s Appellate Court Procedural Rules make a significant difference in how quickly out-of-home placement cases are reviewed. Such cases are ones in which juveniles typically are sent to a detention center or residential facility. “Although the number of these types of cases may be relatively small, the rules that the Court adopted make our juvenile justice system stronger,” Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Ronald D. Castille said. “The rules should also help appellate courts identify specific instances of sentencing abuse by individual judges. These new rules should boost the confidence Pennsylvanians have in the courts that adjudicate juveniles.” Prompting the changes was a comprehensive report prepared by the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice ...

HARRISBURG— Chief Justice of Pennsylvania Ronald D. Castille today announced an agreement with the Pennsylvania Cable Network (PCN) to allow gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Supreme Court’s oral arguments and to make them available to PCN’s network of more than 3.3 million homes. PCN coverage of Supreme Court sessions is expected to begin on September 13. “My colleagues and I are pleased to open our courtroom to PCN’s statewide audience so they can see how our court operates and follow arguments in cases affecting every citizen of Pennsylvania,” Chief Justice Castille said. The Chief Justice noted that the agreement was reached after PCN had operated successful pilot videotaping programs in both the Commonwealth Court and Superior Court. PCN is a non-profit cable television network created and funded by Pennsylvania's cable television companies. PCN receives no government funding. "Chief Justice Castille and all the justices are to be commended for their ...

HARRISBURG, PA, June 7, 2011—A survey released today by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania reveals that a day in court for many individuals charged with a crime no longer means a trip to a courtroom. Instead, defendants often remain in a correctional facility or booking center as judges increasingly use video conferencing technology to conduct preliminary arraignments and other court proceedings, saving taxpayers an estimated $21 million annually. “The use of video conferencing enhances security by reducing the risk of defendant escape or assault on transport officers, judges and anyone in the courtroom; improves court efficiency; and saves tax dollars by reducing court costs associated with defendant transportation,” said Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille. The Supreme Court's criminal procedural rules were amended in 2003 to allow videoconferencing in court procedures not involving a defendant's constitutional rights to confront witnesses. The survey, conducted by the Admin...

Chris Hauser will not be taking the bench as McKean County’s second judge before January. After Hauser won both the Republican and Democratic primaries last month, Senator Joe Scarnati asked Governor Tom Corbett appoint Hauser to the position earlier than January. Late last week, Pennsylvania Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Ronald Castille wrote to Corbett, Scarnati and others saying that with the court system’s current fiscal problems they can’t afford to pay any new judicial salaries for this year. In fact, Castille wrote, projections indicate that the court system will not have sufficient funding to next year to pay for the 70 Common Pleas court judges and 87 district judges. Castille added that it is possible in the general election for an independently filed candidate to win, although “it is a difficult task to be sure.” He also said, in the months to come, he looks forward to working with Corbett, Scarnati and senators Dominic Pileggi and Jay Costa to “right-size’ the district...