Luzerne County Courts

From: Chester B. Muroski, President Judge on behalf of all members of the 11th Judicial District of Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas of Luzerne County

May 13, 2009

RANDOM ASSIGNMENT OF CIVIL MATTERS

Judge Joseph J. Musto reported that a new computer software program designed to randomly assign civil cases in Luzerne County is now operational.

The program, which was developed by a computer consultant working with Musto, Acting Court Administrator Jack Mulroy, and William Ostroskie, Management Information Analyst, was installed on computers in the Court Administrator’s office last week. There will be a thorough testing period to confirm that it is working properly. The program will be used to assign cases in the Luzerne County Court.

“At a meeting of the Court en banc held on February 3, 2009, all of the sitting judges established a goal to remove even the possibility that cases could be assigned to one judge over another in an attempt to gain an advantage in a civil case,” said Musto. “We feel that we have achieved that goal with the implementation of this computer program.”

The selection of judges for civil cases uses a random computer generated number. That number is then multiplied by the number of judges doing civil cases. After the calculation is done by the computer, the judges are assigned, using a random computer-generated formula. The computer also makes sure that the cases are evenly distributed among the available judges. For example if there are 12 cases that are to be assigned among four judges hearing civil cases, each judge will be assigned three cases.

Judge Musto pointed out that the new system completely removes the possibility of bias or favoritism in the assigning of civil cases because it removes subjectivity from the equation. “The computer is set up to generate a new random selection formula for each time the assignment process is used,” said Musto. President Judge Muroski said, “This is a very important step toward restoring public confidence in our court system.”

A public demonstration of the system will be conducted at noon on Thursday, May 14, 2009, in Courtroom 4 of the Luzerne County Court House. All members of the public, media and members of the bar are invited.

COURT CALENDAR FOR 2010

A proposed court calendar was reviewed and approved by the Court en banc for calendar year 2010. President Judge Muroski reported that two additional weeks of criminal trials were added to next year’s calendar in response to the increasing criminal caseload.

EXPANDED VIDEO CONFERENCING

President Judge Muroski reported that the first step in the implementation of the revised structure of the Magisterial District Judicial system will take place on Saturday morning, May 16, 2009, with the initial video scheduled between Magisterial District Judge Halesey’s office and the Luzerne County Correctional Facility. In addition to this process, staff of each Magisterial District Judge will be required to attend a training session on the new technology. The court anticipates a more efficient hearing schedule before the Magisterial District Judges together with substantial savings to local municipalities in that local police will not be required to transport prisoners back and forth from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility, or any other linkable prison or penitentiary, to the local magisterial district office.

SETTLEMENT/CONCILIATION CONFERENCES

President Judge Muroski reported that volunteers from ADR Options added another day to conduct mandatory settlement/conciliation conferences on civil cases. It was previously reported that conferences would be held on May 26, 27 and 28, while the new schedule adds cases for May 29, 2009. Thereafter, a meeting with representatives of ADR Options and the Court en banc will be held to discuss the outcome of the conferences.

BAIL FORFEITURE ACCOUNT

The Court approved the release of $75,000.00 from the District Justice Forfeiture Bail Account to the Luzerne County Treasurer’s Office for General Fund purposes.

MICROFILM SCANNER

The court approved the payment of a microfilm scanner for the Juvenile Probation Department acquired in conjunction with Judge Grim’s work in the Juvenile cases. The funds are to come from the Bail Forfeiture Account.

DUI ARRAIGNMENTS/GUILTY PLEAS/ARDs/TRIALS

The Court approved the continuing assignment of Senior Judge Patrick J. Toole, Jr. to preside over all cases involving Driving Under the Influence (DUI) from in-court arraignments to guilty pleas, Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARDs) and trials.

MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT COURT

The Court is undertaking a review of a proposed administrative order submitted on behalf of the Magisterial District Judges to implement the changes previously approved by the Court en banc effective August 1, 2009. A Deputy Court Administrator was tasked to facilitate a modification to the state-wide Common Pleas Case Management System (CPCMS) to electronically schedule cases from the Magisterial District Court to the appropriate Common Pleas criminal dockets, including DUI cases to Penn Place for ARDs and/or pleas and all other in-court arraignments, guilty pleas and ARDs to the main courthouse.