The LuLac Edition #806, May 5th, 2009

PHOTO INDEX: VICE PRESIDENT JOHNSON, PRESIDENT AND MRS. KENNEDY ARE GLUED TO THE TV SET WATCHING ALAN SHEPHERD'S FLIGHT 48 YEARS AGO TODAY. ALSO IN THE PHOTO ARE ROBERT KENNEDY AND PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN ARTHUR SCHESLINGER. NEXT PHOTO IS OF ALAN SHEPHERD, CIRCA 1959 AND ATTORNEY RICHARD HUGHES.

48 YEARS AGO

It was a day I will remember all my life. The world, even first graders, held their collective breath as Alan P. Shepherd became the first American in space. That happened 48 years ago today. It was only a 15 minute suborbital flight. A modest start but it was the launching (no pun intended) of the U.S. Space program that revolutionized the way we lived in America.

OBAMA’S MISSION

President Barack Obama vowed Monday to "detect and pursue" U.S tax evaders and go after their offshore tax shelters. In announcing a series of steps aimed at overhauling the U.S. tax code, Obama complained that existing law makes it possible to "pay lower taxes if you create a job in Bangalore, India, than if you create one in Buffalo, New York. " The president said he wants to prevent U.S. companies from deferring tax payments by keeping profits in foreign countries rather than recording them at home and called for more transparency in bank accounts that Americans hold in notorious tax havens like the Cayman Islands.

JUDICIAL CANDIDATE BIO

As part of our on going series in covering the Luzerne and Lackawanna County Judicial races, we are going to do brief profiles on those candidates running. In today’s edition, we continue with Attorney Richard Hughes. The order was determined by our lottery at the LuLac Forum last week.

RICHARD HUGHES

When GOP attorney Richard Hughes announced his candidacy, he gave a thoughtful presentation on why he wanted to be Judge. Here’s what he said:
"Judicial independence is essential to any democracy. A judge must decide cases fairly and impartially relying on the facts and the law without the influence of political, media, public or special interest pressures. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy once said, “The law makes a promise: neutrality. If the promise gets broken, the law as we know it ceases to exist.”
"So what are the qualities that a judge should possess? Honesty, integrity, knowledge of the law, experience and temperament — The ability to be decisive and firm in ones rulings yet remaining compassionate and judging with understanding. One must judge each case on its facts and merits, because each case will be different. I am ready and well prepared to serve as judge. In this election I bring experience to the table and am committed to the rigors of a campaign because I know it is the right thing to do."

RICHARD HUGHES

Richard Hughes is a lifelong resident of Luzerne County. At age 47 he resides in Mountain Top, Pennsylvania with his wife, Ruth, and three children, Callie age 19, Ellen age 17, and Richard IV age 11. He is a graduate of Lafayette College with a BA in Classics and The Washington and Lee University School of Law. Upon graduation from Law School in 1986, Richard returned to Luzerne County to join his father in a law practice that his father had established in 1946, immediately following service in War World II. He and his father practiced together for five years until his father’s death in 1991. During his years of practice with his father he ran a general practice office, handling a wide variety of cases involving real estate, estate planning, estates, domestic relations, and criminal defense. Always a believer in public service, Richard became an attorney for Legal Services of Northeastern Pennsylvania, running the Organization’s Hazleton office as it provided legal services at no charge for the County’s indigent population. During his years with Legal Services, he practiced in areas that most commonly affect the poor and fought for the rights of these individuals. He continued his commitment to public service when in 1988 he was appointed Assistant District Attorney for Luzerne County by the Honorable Correale Stevens. He served in that capacity for five years. After 21 years of practicing law, he most recently has returned part-time to the District Attorney’s Office, having been appointed in January 2008 by District Attorney Jacqueline Musto Carroll. He has tried over 30 jury trials to verdict, including the prosecution of three Defendants for first-degree murder of whom all are presently serving life in prison without the right of parole. Richard currently emphasizes his practice in the areas of estate planning, estate administration, real estate, municipal law, and civil litigation. He serves as the Solicitor for municipalities and Zoning Hearing Boards. He has tried cases in state and federal courts and has argued before the Commonwealth Court and Superior Court of Pennsylvania. A community activist, Richard serves on the Boards of Luzerne Foundation, Forty Fort Cemetery, Hollenback Cemetery, Wyoming Seminary, Davis and Elkins College, Wyoming Commemorative Association, Glen Summit Chapel Association, and The Home for Homeless Women. He is a past Board member of the Northeast Counseling and the Wyoming Historical and Geological Society. He serves as a volunteer attorney for the pro bono program for Legal Services and is a member of the Wilkes-Barre Law and Library Association where he is Chairman of the Fine and Forfeiture Committee and is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Richard has a love for the outdoors and spends his free time with his family, who are all active in sports. Richard is active in each of his children’s academic and extra-curricular activities. He has coached youth soccer for each of his children’s teams and has coached a competitive high school mock trial team. From YOU TUBE, a video retrospective of the Hughes campaign.