442 Pa. 411 | Pa. | 1971
And Now, this 24th day of March, 1971, the recommendation, of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Board in the above-entitled matter, by report filed December 31, 1970, is approved, and
Opinion in Support oe Order, Filed by
The Court has this day entered an order suspending Judge Stanley M. Greenberg from his office and from exercising judicial functions until the issue of his guilt or innoeence is finally determined in the federal courts. This order was entered with reluctance, but in the firm belief that it is necessary in order to uphold respect for the rule of law and the administration of the judicial process in the courts of this Commonwealth.
The action now being taken, after mature deliberation, is pursuant to and in accord with the unanimous report and recommendation of the Judicial Inquiry and Review Board of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (herein “the Board”),
The Board found that .Judge- Greenberg- was appointed „ to the Court of Common. Pleas, of ..the First Judicial District-(City .of Philadelphia) on August 6, 1965, and subsequently elected.to a full term (10 years), which he is presently serving; that oh March 20, 1968, Judge-Greenberg..was..indicted to Criminal'No. 23208 in the District Court of the United States- for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for the crime of conspiracy and. use of the United States mail to defraud in 21 counts; that on April 29, 1970, after trial by a jury, he ■was found guilty of the charges-laid in Count 1 of the indictment, to wit, ■ a. conspiracy to use the United States...mail to perpetrate a.fraud; that, the fraud concerned the use of the maü;-to kite, bank checks during the
In its conclusions of law the Board stated that the conviction in the United States District Court of a judge of the court of common pleas of a conspirarcy to use the United States mail to defraud, “a felony-type offense”,
“The place of justice is a hallowed place; and therefore not only the bench but the foot-pace and precincts,
The Canons of Judicial Ethics of the American Bar Association have been adopted as applicable to judges of this Commonwealth.
Our Constitution has provided since 1874 that “all civil officers shall hold their offices on the condition that they behave themselves well while in office, and shall be removed on conviction of misbehavior in office or of any infamous crime . . .” (Emphasis supplied.)
In the first place, we do not sit in judgment of Judge Greenberg nor mete out punishment to him; that is solely within the competence of the federal court in which he was tried and convicted. What we seek to do is to maintain the integrity of the office of judge to the end that that office, and through it the administration of justice, will deserve and receive the support not only of litigants and lawyers but of the public as well. It may be granted that the problem would be aggravated had the crime been committed while Judge Greenberg was holding judicial office, but this does not alter the facts before us: the crime for which the judge stands convicted covered a period of almost four years and ended only within a month of the time he ascended to the bench; it was, moreover, a crime involving fraudulent use of the mails; and it carried the potential prison sentence and fine noted in footnote 5. It is no answer to say that Judge Greenberg is not now presiding in a courtroom in the trial of cases; he is doing judicial work of equal importance, and his success therein is because, in addition to his other attributes, he occupies the status of judge. There is no such thing as nonjudicial phases in the work óf a judge who is functioning qua judge. For the purpose of upholding the dignity of the judicial office and the integrity of the judicial process, we cannot place judicial duties or activities
This Court has adopted not only the Canons of Judicial Ethics, applicable to judges, but the Code of Professional Responsibility, applicable to lawyers.
It has been well said that “To the people of his jurisdiction, the judge is the personal embodiment of our American ideal of justice. In his jurisdiction he is the court, one of the three equal branches of our system of government. . . . People generally, and lawyers as well, want to look up to their judges.”
In the second place, we cannot, in the context of the matter now before us, be influenced by the con
■ It is with the foregoing considerations in mind that we have felt constrained' to enter the instant order.
Opinion in Opposition to Order, Filed by
I am in full agreement with the general precepts enunciated by the majority concerning the high ethical standards, to be followed by the judiciary and the legal profession. However, because of the present exceptional circumstances and the enormous backlog in the First Judicial District, I must dissent from the Court’s blanket suspension of Judge Stanley M. Greenberg, and would, in lieu thereof, limit and restrict his services “exclusively to administrative- functions and voluntary settlement conferences.” .
I am convinced that on this record, this is the wise and desirable disposition of this matter; Further, such a modification of the recommendation of the Board of
I am fully persuaded that justice and wisdom indicate that we rely on these highly competent and totally responsible recommendations particularly since the conduct complained of involved no judicial misconduct and is alleged to have occurred more than seven years ago, prior to his ascending the bench, and also since the charges have not yet been finally adjudicated.
The Judicial Inquiry and Review Board was created pursuant to Article V, Section 18 of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, proposed by the Constitutional Convention of 1967, and adopted by the electors on April 23, 1968. It is a board composed of nine members, as follows: two judges of the Superior Court and three judges of the courts of common pleas from different judicial districts, all of whom are selected by the Supreme Court; two non-judge members of the bar of the Supreme Court and two non-lawyer electors, all of whom are selected by the Governor. Under the procedure prescribed in said section, “any justice or judge may be suspended, removed from office or otherwise disciplined for violation of section seventeen of this article [article V], misconduct in office, neglect of duty, failure to perform his duties, or conduct which prejudices the
The-statement -of'objections challenged the finding of fact and conclusion of-law that the indictment- and conviction of Judge Greenberg ■ has prejudiced the’proper1 administration'’of justice and b’fotight the judicial' office into' disrepute’; and-took Issue with’ the Board’s recommendation of-suspensión'frem'office as distinguished from 'suspensión from''the'éxéréise of judicial functions.- No exception* was‘taken'to the competence or-procedure'of the Boárd, and ho question ■ has'been raised as-to the power of- this’Court to act as it ’sees fit' upon - the" Board’s recommendation. ■*■
On March 17, 1971, after Judge Greenberg’s post-trial motions had been overruled, the following judgment and order of probation was entered: “Imposition of sentence is hereby suspended and defendant is placed on probation for a period of six months without supervision.”
We understand that this activity has been restricted to the civil side of the court.
The crime involved is defined in 18 U.S.C. §1341 (1970) which provides for a maximum penalty of a $1000 fine or 5 years imprisonment or both.
Bacon, “Of Judicature”, as quoted in Handbook for Judges 25, 27, Am. Jud. Soc. 1961.
Edward Allen Tamm, Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, “Are Courts Going the Way of the Dinosaur?”, 57 A.B.A. Journal 229 (March 1971).
Tate v. Carroll, 442 Pa. 45, 274 A. 2d 193 (1971).
Effective January 28, 1965. See 425 Pa. xxiii (1967).
Constitution, Article VI, Section 7. The Constitution of 1838 contained a similar provision. This provision has been held to be a self-executing mandate, not dependent on the senatorial address process prescribed by the Constitution. Commonwealth v. Knox, 172 Pa. Superior Ct. 510, 522-524, aff’d, 374 Pa. 343 (1953).
See Note, “What is an infamous crime or one involving moral turpitude constituting disqualifications to hold public office?” 52 A.D.R. 2d 1314 (1957). See also the definition of “serious crime” in Rule XV (b) of the proposed new Discipline Rules submitted by a special committee on Disciplinary Procedures to the Board of Governance of the Pennsylvania Bar, as circulated by said Board on January 26, 1971.
See 438 Pa. xxix (1970).
Mr. Justice Frankfurter aptly described this responsibility: “It is a fair characterization of the lawyer’s responsibility in our society that he stands ‘as a shield’, to quote Devlin, J., in defense of right and to ward off wrong. From a profession charged with such responsibilities there must be exacted those qualities of truth-speaking, of a high sense of honor, of granite discretion, of the strictest observance of fiduciary responsibility, that have, throughout the centuries, been compendiously described as ‘moral character’.” Schware v. Bd. of Bar Examiners, 353 U.S. 232, 247, 1 L. Ed. 2d 790, 806 (1957). (Frankfurter, J., concurring.)
Arch M. Cantrall, “The Judge as a Leader; the Embodiment of the Ideal of Justice”, 45 A.B.A. Journal 339 (1959).
Harold R. Medina, Address to the Pennsylvania Bar Association, 36 Journ. Am. Jud. Soc. '6 (1952).