Ronald Castille
Ronald Castille was the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He was first elected to the court as a Republican in a partisan election in 1993. Castille was retained in 2003 and 2013. He retired from the bench in December 2014 due to reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70. He served as chief justice of the court from 2008 until his retirement.[1][2][3]
Education
After graduating from high school at an United States Air Force base in Fukuoka, Japan, Castille attended Auburn University on a Navy ROTC scholarship.[4] Castille received a B.S. degree in economics from Auburn University in 1966. In 1971, he earned his J.D. degree from the University of Virginia School of Law.[5]
Military service
Upon his graduation from Auburn in 1966, Castille was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and served as a rifle platoon commander in the Republic of Vietnam. He was awarded various medals and ribbons for his service in combat including the Bronze Star with Combat "V" for valor, two Purple Heart medals for combat wounds, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Naval Unit Citation, the Combat Infantry Badge and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry.[1]
In March of 1967 during Operation DeSoto, Castille was awarded the Bronze Star for directing the evacuation of Marines who had been ambushed by North Vietnamese Army troops in an open rice paddy. Castille was severely wounded during the firefight. His wounds later led to the amputation of his right leg. After 15 months of recuperation in the Naval hospital system, Castille was medically retired from the U.S. Marine Corps.[4][6]
Career
After graduating from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1971, Castille began his legal career in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office. He served twenty years in the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office, first as a deputy district attorney under then-D.A. Ed Rendell, and later as the district attorney. He was twice elected by the citizens of Philadelphia as district attorney.[1][7] As district attorney, Castille sent more than forty-five people to death row.[8]
While working as a district attorney, Castille began Philadelphia's Youth Aid Panels to provide alternative treatment to first-time minor offenders.[9]
In 1991, Castille entered private practice with the law firm of Reed, Smith, Shaw & McClay and worked there until his election to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1993.[1]
Elections
2013
Castille was retained to the Supreme Court with 68.5 percent of the vote on November 5, 2013.(99% of districts reporting) (99% of districts reporting)[10][11]
Bar Association rating
Endorsements
The Pennsylvania Bar Association recently endorsed Castille's retention as follows:
| “ | Since becoming Chief Justice five years ago, Chief Justice Castille has presided over Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System during an especially challenging and tumultuous period....He is credited for his efforts in reorganizing the court system in Philadelphia, for strengthening and improving the judicial discipline system, and for encouraging lawyers to render public interest and legal services work [for the indigent]. He is recognized for his...excellent judicial temperament, strong work ethic and substantial output of articulate and well-reasoned opinions. Although he would face mandatory retirement...through the end of 2014 if retained, the [PA Bar Association] Commission believes the citizens of the Commonwealth would be well-served by the steadying influence of his continuing leadership and recommends his retention.[13] | ” |
The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO announced Castille among the state judicial candidates they endorsed for retention in the November general election.[15]
Opposition to retention
A group called Rock the Capital fought against the retention of Castille in 2013. A report issued by Tim Potts, founder of Democracy Rising Pa., appeared on the Rock the Capital website on May 20, 2013.
One of Potts' reasons for fighting the retention was Castille's age of 69 years. Since the mandatory age of retirement for judges in Pennsylvania is 70, Potts argued that Castille would only be able to serve one year of his 10-year term if retained. Additionally, Potts pointed 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 pointed to other alleged scandals and controversies that occurred on Castille's watch.
Castille himself, in an interview with the Daily News, pointed to the fact that he had written and participated in hundreds of cases throughout his career and should not be judged on a couple decisions.[16][17]
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
Noteworthy events
Expenses controversy
In November 2010, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported 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.[18]
State law requires jurists to report gifts over $250 and Castille did, though the newspaper reported that he may have under-reported their actual values.[18]
In December 2009, The Inquirer ran a multi-part expose on the backlogs, administrative errors and other malfeasance within the Philadelphia court system. This reportedly forced Castille to call for a major review and revamping of the city's justice system.[19]
Several justices on the court and Castille had management oversight responsibilities for all levels of the state's court system. Castille oversaw Philadelphia, so he hired Washington attorney Bill Chadwick to review the system.[20]
Later, Castille hired Chadwick to look into $12 million in legal and development costs for Philadelphia's proposed new family court building. Castille admitted he did not do a good job of managing the project, which he pushed for several years. The new court offices were expected to cost taxpayers $200 million when they are built.[20]
Castille earned just under $192,000 each year.[21][22]
League of Women Voters lawsuit
In a statement made in May 2008, Castille wrote that the League of Women Voters suit "slanders the entire Supreme Court of Pennsylvania with baseless and irresponsible charges."[23] The lawsuit claimed that one or more of the justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court 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," Castille wrote.[23] Former Chief Justice Ralph Cappy was the only defendant named in the suit, which cited information from unnamed lawmakers. The league's lawsuit claimd 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 stated 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 May 20, 2008. "I do not understand why a respected organization such as the League of Women Voters would associate itself with this irresponsible lawsuit," he wrote.[23][24]
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Castille received a campaign finance score of 0.2, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of -0.02 that justices received in Pennsylvania.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[25]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Pennsylvania Judicial System, "Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille," accessed October 7, 2013
- ↑ The Daily Item, "Voters to fill a historic number of justice seats," December 6, 2014
- ↑ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, "After 21 years on Pennsylvania Supreme Court bench, Ronald D. Castille retires," January 6, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Tiger Tales, "Alumin Spotlight, Chief Justice Ron Castille," accessed October 7, 2013
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille (PA)," accessed January 6, 2015
- ↑ The Library of Congress, "Veterans History Project: Ronald D. Castille Collection," accessed October 7, 2013
- ↑ Philly.com, "Chief justice seat awaits Castille Ralph J. Cappy's plan to retire sets the stage for the scrappy former D.A. Castille is in line to move up early," September 12, 2007
- ↑ The Morning Call, "Ex-Philadelphia District Attorney touts crime-fighting record in judgeship bid," March 20, 1993
- ↑ Penn State Law, "The Hon. Ronald D. Castille to deliver commencement address in Carlisle," April 23, 2013
- ↑ Pennsylvania Department of State, "Unofficial 2013 Municipal Election Results," accessed January 6, 2015
- ↑ Politics PA, "Castille to Seek Retention; No Supreme Court Race in 2013," January 2013
- ↑ The Pennsylvania Record, "Pa. Bar Assoc. recommends four state appellate court judges for retention," September 13, 2013
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ The Pennsylvania Record, "Pa. Bar Assoc. recommends four state appellate court judges for retention," September 13, 2013
- ↑ Pennsylvania AFL-CIO, "Pennsylvania AFL-CIO endorses state judicial candidates in November general election," October 3, 2013
- ↑ Rock the Capital, "Retain Ron Castille on the Supreme Court?" May 20, 2013
- ↑ Philly.com, "Grassroots group wants Castille gone," May 20, 2013
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Philadelphia Inquirer, "Castille is accepting of litigants' gifts, trips," November 21, 2010
- ↑ Philadelphia Inquirer, "Justice: Delayed, Dismissed, Denied," accessed December 10, 2015
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Philadelphia Magazine, "War in the Supreme Court: Ron Castille and Seamus McCaffery Just Can’t Get Along," June 28, 2013
- ↑ Pennsylvania Independent, "PA Chief Justice In Spotlight Again," November 22, 2010
- ↑ Pennsylvania Judiciary requests funding increase for underfunded courts
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 PennLive.com, "Suit 'slanders' state Supreme Court, Chief Justice Castille says," May 20, 2008
- ↑ ABA Journal, "Former Pa. Chief Justice Says Lawsuit is 'Preposterous'," May 21, 2008
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
