The LuLac Edition #624, Oct. 31st, 2008

PHOTO INDEX: PERSECUTED JUDGE ANN LOKUTA AND OUR 1968 LOGO.

ONE SIDED TRAVESTY

So the long awaited court ruling came down yesterday against Luzerne County Judge Anne Lokuta and to me it was a revealing revelation about the clubiness of the Judiciary. The State Judicial Board of Review issued a 229 page report that was a one sided document directed at the Judge. Some of the key points:
Routinely belittled, berated and badgered court staff and others who appeared before her. The abuse was so severe that some employees were so traumatized that they could no longer appear before her.
Utilized court personnel to perform “hundreds” of hours of work conducting her personal business, including cleaning her home, packing items, caring for her ill mother and raking her yard.
The court said it found that abuse “repugnant” and an “affront to every judge and judicial employee of the commonwealth.”
“We dare say that the reasonable expectations of the public would include the expectation that a judge would not require her law clerk to spend her time raking the judge’s yard, bubble wrapping the judge’s things or scrubbing the judge’s floors,” the court wrote.
Created a “war”-like atmosphere with other judges and county court offices, including showing extreme disrespect and insubordination to the president judge.
Was habitually late for hearings and intentionally delayed the start of proceedings while she chatted with people in her chambers.
Openly acknowledged a personal bias against certain attorneys, then issued rulings that were detrimental to their clients’ cases.
Falsely accused deputy court administrator P.J. Adonizio of physically and verbally assaulting her during an altercation in the courthouse in June 2004.
That was reported in the Times Leader today. I have a problem with asking court employees to do work for the Judge as paid staffers. There should be a reprimand for that. But the other things? C’mon. Lokuta was elected to the bench twice by the people. The people she employed were servants of the electorate. If they had a problem with the Judge, they should have taken it out on the electoral battle field instead of running to the big bad Judicial Review Board to do their dirty work for them. Not one stopped working for her did they? And did they give up some of those bloated county salaries? And if they did, you’d be sure one of the cronies would soft land them into another position not so demanding and er, mean. Lokuta was quoted as saying the coal miner’s daughter will fight back. I certainly hope so. To single out Lokuta for this type of stuff is a travesty and insult when some of the Judiciary in Luzerne County are being investigated for financial wrong doing. Maybe Lokuta’s two biggest mistakes were:

1. Not being nicer.

2. Not being interested in financial gain.

3. Not being a 6 foot tall blond from the Back Mountain who was more style than substance. Then these allegations would be "eccentric".

THE FINAL LAP

Northeastern Pa. is in the thick of it, John McCain comes to the University of Scranton Sunday, Caroline Kennedy to Wilkes College Sunday to support Obama and former President Clinton to Wilkes Barre to support Paul Kanjorski.

1968

Citing progress in the Paris peace talks, U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson announces to the nation that he has ordered a complete cessation of "all air, naval, and artillery bombardment of North Vietnam" effective November 1………The word put a major boost in the candidacy of Vice President Humphrey who was closing in fast on Richard Nixon……Statewide, the race between incumbent Senator Joe Clark and Congressman Richard Schweiker goes down to the wire….Scranton Attorney Robert Casey seems headed for victory as the state’s Auditor General….in the fifth legislative district, Richard Adams steps up the pressure on incumbent GOPer Frank O’Connell while Bernard O’Brien in Wilkes Barre appears headed to another term in the state house…..and this week 40 years ago, the number 1 song in America and LuLac land was “Those Were The Days” by Mary Hopkin.