More shame on Pa

Timothy McNulty | September 17, 2009

There are not many things Pennsylvania government is good at, but it does run a tight ship when it comes to protecting its own -- particularly when it comes to the state judiciary.

Pittsburghers may remember a few years ago when the state retirement system issued Judge Pat McFalls a $7,000-per-month disability pension after he was accused of being drunk on the bench (and lots of other places).

Or the story from just yesterday detailing how judges were blowing holes in the state's open records law, by ruling in favor of governments spending taxpayer money on legal challenges of the taxpayer-protection bill.

Or how the the state Supreme Court refused for months to step into the Luzerne County judges scandal, in which two judges were charged early this year with taking bribes to send hundreds of youths to far-away detention centers on trumped up charges -- surely one of the most despicable episodes in state history.

Now a state panel is considering issuing the two judges their pension payments while they await trial. From the Times-Tribune (via PoliticsPa):

WILKES-BARRE - The two ex-judges charged in a Luzerne County kids-for-cash scheme could rake in tens of thousands in pension payments before heading to trial on federal corruption charges, a state retirement board said Wednesday.

The board ordered a state pension agency to reconsider its June decision to block payments to the former judges, Mark A. Ciavarella Jr. and Michael T. Conahan, following recent developments in the judges' case.

Mr. Ciavarella and Mr. Conahan withdrew their guilty pleas to an initial set of charges last month and petitioned the State Employees Retirement System to reinstate their monthly pension checks.

The former judges' indictment this month on 48 counts, including charges of racketeering, bribery, extortion and money laundering, had no bearing on the board's ruling, State Employees Retirement System spokesman Robert R. Gentzel said.

In both sets of charges, the former judges were accused of accepting $2.8 million in kickbacks for facilitating the development of a pair of privately owned juvenile detention centers.

Under state law, pensions can be revoked only from state employees who have pleaded guilty or been convicted of one of several crimes, including corruption, related to their public service or employment.

Once Mr. Ciavarella and Mr. Conahan withdrew their guilty pleas, the state pension agency no longer had the authority to hold up their pensions, attorneys for the former judges argued in letters to the agency.

The attorneys - Al Flora for Mr. Ciavarella and Philip Gelso for Mr. Conahan - declined to comment on the ruling Wednesday.

Mr. Conahan, who retired as a Common Pleas judge in January 2008, withdrew the money he contributed to the system in his 31 years as a magisterial district judge and county judge plus accrued interest - a total of about $300,000 - and began receiving $8,073 in monthly pension benefits.

His last pension check was mailed in April.

Mr. Ciavarella never collected a payment. The agency denied his application for benefits after he resigned from the bench in March.

The agency also refused to repay Mr. Ciavarella the $234,000 he contributed to the retirement system during his 13 years on the bench, citing the state Department of Public Welfare's claim he and Mr. Conahan were liable for $4.3 million in overpayments to the detention centers.