2013 Rock the Capital Opposed the Retention of Chief Justice Ronald Castille

• January 26-28, 2012: Chief Justice Castille and Justice Tom Saylor (R-Cumberland County) traveled on a judicial junket to the Hilton Caribbean in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Both were guests of the Pennsylvania State Bar Association.

Mr. Castille reported receiving $1,464 in gifts, travel and hospitality from the state bar. In addition, Mr. Saylor reported accepting $2,717 from the lawyers' group that tries cases before the Supreme Court. Mr. Castille and Mr. Saylor see no conflict of interest embedded in accepting gifts from folks who try cases before the Supreme Court. Read HERE “The Road Not Taken: A Summary of Attempts to Ban Gifts from 2006-2014, written May 27, 2014.

• May 20, 2013: Democracy Rising and Rock the Capital opposed the retention of Chief Justice Ronald 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. “A voter guide opposing the retention of Chief Justice Ronald Castille on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.”

Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Castille (R-Philadelphia) routinely accepts gifts worth thousands of dollars from lawyers and law firms appearing before him as chief justice. They include paid trips to the Pennsylvania Society weekend at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, innumerable rounds of golf at some of the best golf courses in the nation, and air travel.

Mr. Castille was the author of the decision in the case challenging the Pay Raise of 2005. Writing for the court, he ruled the pay raise unconstitutional – except for himself and his fellow judges. This decision marked only the second time in the history of American jurisprudence that a court has refused to honor a clause in the law that said if part of the law was declared unconstitutional, the entire law was unconstitutional. It just happened to benefit himself and his fellow judges.

Even though he ruled the pay raise unconstitutional for lawmakers, Castille couldn’t bring himself to enforce his own ruling. He allowed lawmakers to keep the unconstitutional “unvouchered expenses” they had collected, like allowing a bank robber to keep the stolen money after being caught.

"PA Supreme Court decides judges can keep controversial pay raises," “Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,” September 15, 2006.

Another Philly Court Supervised by Castille. Another Scandal.

Castille also supervised the fiasco of the Philadelphia Family Court’s new building construction, a scandal so egregious that “The Philadelphia Inquirer” called for his resignation as chief justice.

"Castille must resign," Editorial, “The Philadelphia Inquirer,” July 2, 2010.

Nevertheless, Ron Castille routinely accepts gifts worth thousands of dollars from lawyers and law firms appearing before him as chief justice. They include paid trips to the Pennsylvania Society weekend at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, innumerable rounds of golf at some of the best golf courses in the nation, and air travel.

Ironically, if Castille were a judge on any other PA court, he couldn’t accept such gifts. Why? Because rules adopted in 2010 prohibit gifts for the other judges and the 15,000 employees of the state and county courts, but not for Castille and his fellow justices.

"Castille is accepting of litigants' gifts, trips," The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 21, 2010.

"Untenable judicial ethics," Editorial, The New York Times, November 27, 2010.

One last perk: Luxury cars. In 2010, the “Pittsburgh Tribune-Review” documented that the PA Supreme Court allows judges and justices to lease luxury cars at taxpayer expense for up to $600 a month, even though state fleet vehicles cost just $230. The luxury cars included a Cadillac Castille leased for $582 per month plus $130 a month for insurance.