Ronald Castille

Ronald Castille
Current Court Information:
Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Title:	Chief Justice
Service:
Active:	1993-2013
Past position:	Attorney, Private practice
Past term:	1991-1993
Past position 2:	District Attorney
Past term 2:	1986-1991
Personal History
Born:	3/16/1944
Party:	Republican
Bachelors:	Auburn University, 1966
Law School:	University of Virginia School of Law, 1971
Military service:	U.S. Marine Corps
Candidate 2013:
Candidate for:	Pennsylvania Supreme Court
Position:	Retention
State:	Pennsylvania
Election information 2013:
Incumbent:	Yes
Election date:	11/5/2013

Ronald Castille is the Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He was first elected to the court as a Republican in a partisan election in 1993; his current term expires in 2013.

Education

Castille received a B.S. degree in Economics from Auburn University in 1966. In 1971, he graduated from the University of Virginia School of Law with a J.D.

Military service

Castille was a member of the U.S. Marine Corps, where he served in the Vietnam War. He received a number of medals for his service.

Career

After graduating from law school, Castille served as an Assistant, then Deputy, District Attorney in Philadelphia. In 1986, he became District Attorney. He served in this capacity until 1991, when he went into private practice. Castille was elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1993. He became Chief Justice in 2008.

Elections

2013

Castille is running for retention in 2013.

See also: Pennsylvania judicial elections, 2013

Opposition to retention

A group called Rock the Capital is fighting against the retention of Chief Justice Castille in 2013. A report issued by Tim Potts, founder of Democracy Rising Pa., appeared on the Rock the Capital website on May 20.

One of Potts' reasons for fighting the retention is Castille's age; he is currently 69. Since the mandatory age of retirement for judges in Pennsylvania is 70, Castille would only be able to serve one year of his 10-year term if retained. Additionally, Potts points to a controversial 2006 pay raise decision in which the high court ruled in favor of judicial pay raises at the same time that legislators rescinded their own raises due to public opposition. The report also points to other scandals and controversies that occurred under Chief Justice Castille's watch.

Castille himself, in an interview with the Daily News, pointed to the fact that he has written and participated in hundreds of cases throughout his career and shouldn't be judged on a couple decisions.

1993

Campaign contributors

In his 1993 bid for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Castille raised a total of $342,924. To view the details of Castille's contributions, visit: Follow the Money: Ronald Castille

Controversies

In November 2010, The Philadelphia Inquirer revealed an extensive record of Castille taking gifts from friends, litigants and lobbyists. He took expenses-paid trips to the exclusive Pennsylvania Society weekend held each December at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, golf outings and a judicial conference in Puerto Rico.

State law requires jurists to report gifts over $250 and Castille did, though he may have under-reported their actual values.

In December of 2009, The Inquirer ran a multi-part expose on the backlogs, administrative errors and other malfeasance within the Philadelphia court system. This forced Justice Castille to call for a major review and revamping of the city's justice system.

Several justices on the court and Castille have management oversight responsibilities for all levels of the state's court system. Justice Castille oversees Philadelphia, so he hired Washington attorney Bill Chadwick to review the system.

Later, Castille hired Chadwick to look into $12 million in legal and development costs for Philadelphia's proposed new Family Court Building. The Chief Justice admitted he did not do a good job of managing the project, which he pushed for several years. The new court offices are expected to cost taxpayers $200 million when they are built.

Chief Justice Castille earns just under $192,000 each year. It is unclear if he will stand for retention when his term expires in 2013. He will be 69 at that time and under state law he must step down at age 70.

League of Women Voters lawsuit

In a statement, Chief Justice Ronald Castille wrote that the League of Women Voters suit "slanders the entire Supreme Court of Pennsylvania with baseless and irresponsible charges." The lawsuit claims that one or more of the state Supreme Court justices used the League of Women Voters' 2005 legal challenge of the state slots law as leverage for the legislative and judicial pay raise of 2005. "The filing parties may have subjected themselves to sanctions, and the attorney may have subjected himself to disciplinary action," he wrote. Former Chief Justice Ralph Cappy is the only defendant named in the suit, which cites information from unnamed lawmakers. The league's lawsuit claims that prior to a decision on the slot machine case, Cappy entered into secret talks with lawmakers to secure a pay raise for state judges. The suit states Cappy acted with the knowledge of Governor Ed Rendell. Chuck Ardo, Rendell's spokesman, dismissed the allegations in the lawsuit. Cappy, who resigned in January, denied the allegations in a statement issued Tuesday. "I do not understand why a respected organization such as the League of Women Voters would associate itself with this irresponsible lawsuit," he wrote.

See also

• Pennsylvania Judiciary requests funding increase for underfunded courts

External links

• Magisterial district officially eliminated
• Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System, Honorable Ronald D. Castille
• Project Vote Smart, Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille (PA)
• Law.com, "Loan Program Aims to Woo New Lawyers to Public Service", June 30, 2010
• Philly.com, "Western Pa. scandal touches on state high court", April 10, 2010
• North Carolina Mental Hope, "Pa. high court OKs forced drugging of mentally ill death-row inmates", July 23, 2008
• Pennlive.com, "County courts will receive longer prospective jury lists", June 20, 2008
• The New York Times, "Philadelphia Asks Meese's Aid", April 5, 1987

References