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| − | + | Judges can keep relatives on their payrollsEthics committee finding benefits two Northampton County jurists <a href=http://www.avanttravel.com/page.php?sale=Michael-Kors-Belts-For-Women>Michael Kors Belts For Women</a> who employ family members.Emil Giordano (Left), Michael Koury (Right) (CONTRIBUTED )April 19, 2014|By Riley Yates, Of The Morning CallCome July, Pennsylvania judges can no longer hire relatives under heralded new rules that bring the state in line with the rest of the nation.Though nepotism is being barred from the courts, don't expect to see judges' family members taken off the payroll.While Pennsylvania's new judicial canons mandate that judges "shall avoid nepotism," current employees can continue to hold their posts, according to the state Judicial Ethics Committee, a panel of jurists that advises colleagues on ethical questions.In confidential opinions to judges with relatives working for them, the committee found that the anti-nepotism provision isn't retroactive a conclusion that spares judges like Northampton County's Emil Giordano and Michael Koury Jr. from having to tell their family members that they no longer have a job.Giordano's mother-in-law, Anna Goldfeder, and Koury's uncle, Anthony Koury, work for them as court officers, a position with part-time hours and full-time benefits that paid each more than $20,000 last year.A review by The Morning Call in September found Giordano and Koury were among three judges in the six-county area with family members working for them, with Montgomery County Judge Gary Silow employing his wife, Mary, as his secretary, a $53,775-a-year position.The ethics committee's interpretation, provided anonymously to The Morning Call, is being criticized by court-reform activists as a step backward for a court system trying to rebuild its battered reputation.The committee's finding was welcomed by Giordano and Koury, who have defended their relatives as qualified, reliable and trustworthy."It shows that the hiring of that employee was legal and appropriate, her employment was legal and appropriate and her continued employment is legal and appropriate," said Giordano, who sought the panel's advice in January, eight days after the new rules were unveiled by the state Supreme Court.Goldfeder "does her job very well," Giordano said last week. "I have numerous letters from numerous jurors over the years complimenting how well my courtroom is run."By finding that the rules do not apply retroactively to such hires, the committee's conclusion slows what could prove to be a sea change in the way the judiciary does business. Employing family members <a href=http://www.avanttravel.com/page.php?sale=Christian-Louboutin-Shoe>Christian Louboutin Shoe</a> is by no means unheard of in the courts, unlike in some other public sectors, and critics say it is a throwback to a best-forgotten era when family connections meant more than merit.Tim Potts, a good-government activist well known at the Capitol in Harrisburg, said "it's about time" the courts banned nepotism, but allowing judges' relatives to stay on indefinitely guts the new rules."That doesn't solve the problem that the policy is intending to solve," said Potts, a co-founder of the reform group Democracy Rising PA. "There's no point in having a no-nepotism policy if you're going to allow nepotism to exist."Last year, disgraced former state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin was sentenced to house arrest, as was her sister and former secretary, Janine Orie, after being convicted of using state-paid staff to run her campaigns for office in 2003 <a href=http://www.avanttravel.com/page.php?sale=Michael-Kors-Watch-White>Michael Kors Watch White</a> and 2009.Another justice, Seamus McCaffery, came under criticism for the referral fees that his wife his top judicial aide received from law firms she connected clients to, including one for $821,000.The new rules, which take effect July 1, mandate that administrative appointments be based on merit, with judges now required to "avoid nepotism," along with favoritism and unnecessary appointments. The language brings the state on par with courts across the country, with only Pennsylvania, Michigan and Oregon having judicial canons that were silent on nepotism, according to The Morning Call's September review.The change was part of an overhaul of Pennsylvania's outdated canons, the code that governs judges' behavior. In announcing the new requirements, the Supreme Court didn't address whether the ban would affect current employees, with Chief Justice Ronald Castille at the time saying that required "further discussing.""That's going to have to work itself out," said Castille, whose wife is his top aide, though he has noted that she worked for the court before they were married and that he didn't hire her.The ethics committee's findings are nonbinding but carry significant weight. Judges who have received advisory opinions can point to that advice if they later are accused of wrongdoing, to show that they acted with the committee's blessing.The nepotism provision was considered by the entire committee at its February meeting, according to the opinion given to Giordano and obtained by The Morning Call. The panel found that the ban on hiring family members addresses only "future action" and not "appointments and decisions already made."1 | | Featured ArticlesMore: | |
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Revision as of 07:40, 2 October 2014
Judges can keep relatives on their payrollsEthics committee finding benefits two Northampton County jurists <a href=http://www.avanttravel.com/page.php?sale=Michael-Kors-Belts-For-Women>Michael Kors Belts For Women</a> who employ family members.Emil Giordano (Left), Michael Koury (Right) (CONTRIBUTED )April 19, 2014|By Riley Yates, Of The Morning CallCome July, Pennsylvania judges can no longer hire relatives under heralded new rules that bring the state in line with the rest of the nation.Though nepotism is being barred from the courts, don't expect to see judges' family members taken off the payroll.While Pennsylvania's new judicial canons mandate that judges "shall avoid nepotism," current employees can continue to hold their posts, according to the state Judicial Ethics Committee, a panel of jurists that advises colleagues on ethical questions.In confidential opinions to judges with relatives working for them, the committee found that the anti-nepotism provision isn't retroactive a conclusion that spares judges like Northampton County's Emil Giordano and Michael Koury Jr. from having to tell their family members that they no longer have a job.Giordano's mother-in-law, Anna Goldfeder, and Koury's uncle, Anthony Koury, work for them as court officers, a position with part-time hours and full-time benefits that paid each more than $20,000 last year.A review by The Morning Call in September found Giordano and Koury were among three judges in the six-county area with family members working for them, with Montgomery County Judge Gary Silow employing his wife, Mary, as his secretary, a $53,775-a-year position.The ethics committee's interpretation, provided anonymously to The Morning Call, is being criticized by court-reform activists as a step backward for a court system trying to rebuild its battered reputation.The committee's finding was welcomed by Giordano and Koury, who have defended their relatives as qualified, reliable and trustworthy."It shows that the hiring of that employee was legal and appropriate, her employment was legal and appropriate and her continued employment is legal and appropriate," said Giordano, who sought the panel's advice in January, eight days after the new rules were unveiled by the state Supreme Court.Goldfeder "does her job very well," Giordano said last week. "I have numerous letters from numerous jurors over the years complimenting how well my courtroom is run."By finding that the rules do not apply retroactively to such hires, the committee's conclusion slows what could prove to be a sea change in the way the judiciary does business. Employing family members <a href=http://www.avanttravel.com/page.php?sale=Christian-Louboutin-Shoe>Christian Louboutin Shoe</a> is by no means unheard of in the courts, unlike in some other public sectors, and critics say it is a throwback to a best-forgotten era when family connections meant more than merit.Tim Potts, a good-government activist well known at the Capitol in Harrisburg, said "it's about time" the courts banned nepotism, but allowing judges' relatives to stay on indefinitely guts the new rules."That doesn't solve the problem that the policy is intending to solve," said Potts, a co-founder of the reform group Democracy Rising PA. "There's no point in having a no-nepotism policy if you're going to allow nepotism to exist."Last year, disgraced former state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin was sentenced to house arrest, as was her sister and former secretary, Janine Orie, after being convicted of using state-paid staff to run her campaigns for office in 2003 <a href=http://www.avanttravel.com/page.php?sale=Michael-Kors-Watch-White>Michael Kors Watch White</a> and 2009.Another justice, Seamus McCaffery, came under criticism for the referral fees that his wife his top judicial aide received from law firms she connected clients to, including one for $821,000.The new rules, which take effect July 1, mandate that administrative appointments be based on merit, with judges now required to "avoid nepotism," along with favoritism and unnecessary appointments. The language brings the state on par with courts across the country, with only Pennsylvania, Michigan and Oregon having judicial canons that were silent on nepotism, according to The Morning Call's September review.The change was part of an overhaul of Pennsylvania's outdated canons, the code that governs judges' behavior. In announcing the new requirements, the Supreme Court didn't address whether the ban would affect current employees, with Chief Justice Ronald Castille at the time saying that required "further discussing.""That's going to have to work itself out," said Castille, whose wife is his top aide, though he has noted that she worked for the court before they were married and that he didn't hire her.The ethics committee's findings are nonbinding but carry significant weight. Judges who have received advisory opinions can point to that advice if they later are accused of wrongdoing, to show that they acted with the committee's blessing.The nepotism provision was considered by the entire committee at its February meeting, according to the opinion given to Giordano and obtained by The Morning Call. The panel found that the ban on hiring family members addresses only "future action" and not "appointments and decisions already made."1 | | Featured ArticlesMore:
