Tuesday, October 04, 2011

End of the line for Lokuta

It was along shot that the US Supreme Court would hear case the case of Judge Ann Lokuta and yesterday they made it official.

U.S. Supreme Court denies Lokuta a hearing

I have linked to many stories of the last few years documenting the raw deal Lokuta got from the Court of Judicial Discipline and the appellate courts. She complained to the CJD in 2006 about Michael Conahan, alleging wide-spread corruption including case-fixing, mob ties and the improper placement of juveniles in a privately owned juvenile detention facility. Her allegations turned out to be true.


Remember that she was not convicted of doing anything illegal and her chief accusers are admitted criminals led by Judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella, Conahan's cousin Bill Sharkey who is in jail for being a thief and "poor, poor pitiful me" disgraced former Prothonotary Jill Moran. One of the people that sat in judgement of her was Richard Sprague who was a lawyer for Robert Powell who was one of the people paying off the Judges. Powell is a law partner and business partner of Jill Moran. Powell, Moran, Conahan and Ciavarella are also business partners as well as Pat Judge.

This is another miscarriage of justice and cries out for reform of our judicial system.
Judges on Merit has been pushing to change the way we select statewide judges advocating a vetting process and appointment system for appellate court judges. The present system of electing judges has some serious problems. The judicial elections are usually under the radar races decided by party affiliation and who can raise the most money from the lawyers that will later appear before them. I would go further and appoint the judges of the county court of common pleas. Do you think Michael Conahan could have a survived a background check after his implication in the Empire drug ring?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gort your wrong about who pushed to punish Lokuta, dead wrong! Her main accusers were her own staff and attorneys who she bullied in court. You really don't have a clue what you're talking about. You left out why COnahan was up set with her well how about the fact that she would not work? She took months off because of carporal tunnel. She would leave people waiting in the courtroom while she was home in bed. She used her staff to clean her house and shovel snow off her residential sidewalks. She was rude to people in her court to the point te Assist. DA's hated to go before her. She accused court emloyees of doing wrong when dozes of witnesses said under oath that she was lying. Did she complain about COnahan, yes she did but not nearly to the extent that you give her credit for. She is off the bench that's a good thing. She was a very poor judge so add her name to those who disgraced the judicial robe. By the way, the wrod under the dome is that she was offered a full disability because of her antics and she turned it down. She fired two very good attorneys bwecasue they told her she cold not win there were too many credible witnesses agains't her and that had nothig to do with the disgraced judges. Yo're so wrong about her that is almost laughable but this isn't a laughing matter. Do you think it is a coincidence that she was fired as an Assist DA in Lackawanna county? It is common knowledge that she wouldn't do her job there either.

J D Considine said...

So, just because J. Edgar Hoover personally arrested Pretty Boy Floyd, does that excuse him for all of his unethical behavior while he was serving in office? By your logic, it does.

Shira Goodman said...

Thanks for the shout out to JudgesonMerit and the need for Merit Selection. You can find the pending legislation here: http://judgesonmerit.org/about-this-campaign/merit-selection-bill/.

Shira Goodman
Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts
PMCAction

Anonymous said...

Gort I agree with you on all counts.

As for Anonymous and the rest o f you out there that agree with them...First, I work for the county I am HONEST and will tell you she demanded that all parties in her courtroom be prepared and professional. None of which existed then in the corrupt Judges courtrooms. Most of the attorneys were so tight with the corrupt Judges and used to doing whatever they wanted, it was a circus. Judge Lokuta wouldn't put up with it in her courtroom and I wouldn't either. Second, she wasn't fired for not doing her job. That to me, is what's real funny. It was the rest of the corrupt trying to keep their jobs. Third, since when is being nasty a crime anyway? That- I have yet for anyone to answer. Frankly, I think I would be angry and mean too if I was the minority being bullied and tortured by all the men around me since I started there.

A very long suspension, would have solved that problem, not to be removed from the bench like a criminal.The punishment did not fit the crime. Period.Lastly and certainly not least important, is the fact that the judicial system is seriously flawed and corrupt all the way to the top. Therefor, she didn't even have a shot at ever getting what was fair...a new trial. Its evident now that they feared she may have came out a winner the second time (without all the corrupt that were indicted, that were witnesses against her and lets not forget the others that were rewarded with high paying no show jobs), the corrupt that are left in the court system- ensured it. Lets not also forget the very fact that Conahan was involved with the mob and some heavy drug dealers and who knows what else that never came to light. Do you think this just happened here? No, all the way to the top it is! As for you anonymous, I suggest you come out of the rock your under and learn whats really going on around you. Start by learning to base your opinions on your personal experiences and not what other people tell you and you may find yourself, one day, a compassionate, more informed and educated individual...maybe even likable if you practice.