Legal News

Castille Asks Rendell Not to Appoint New Judges

By Brian Harris

Citing a budget crunch that has left the judiciary in a ?precarious financial position,? Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille last week urged Gov. Edward G. Rendell to immediately cease making any nominations for interim judges.

Rendell has reportedly agreed to a freeze on nominations subject to change only if a county court is developing a backlog due to a lack of judges.

"The governor and the chief justice have agreed that he will make no new appointments to vacancies unless the local county court can convince the chief justice that it is warranted by the backlog of cases in that county," Rendell spokesman Gary Tuma told the Lancaster New Era and Intelligencer Journal newspapers.

Castille, in a three-page letter to Rendell, said that judges are the highest paid employees in the judiciary, and that delaying the filling of current vacancies is ?one of the few areas where we can achieve any significant savings.?

Counties also benefit from such delays, Castille wrote, because the support staff for any new judge are paid from the county's coffers.

Full post as published by The Legal Intelligencer Blog on May 04, 2010 (boomark / email).