Pocono News Section

I-Team: One on One with the President Judge

I-Team: One on One with the President Judge - Monday, November 16, 2009 at 5:50PM EST

Reported by: Andy Mehalshick
Monday, Nov 16, 2009 @ 05:50pm EST
WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY -- In an I-Team special report, we look into the future of the embattled Luzerne County Courthouse and the federal corruption investigation.

Two judges face trial in a kids for cash scheme. All together 19 people were nabbed in the probe.

And the man who has been trying to right the ship has some advice to the people who will wear the robes in the future, and has a message for the people of Luzerne County: ÒYour faith in the legal system will be restored!Ó

Luzerne County President Judge Chester Muroski is a no nonsense man, a judge who will not tolerate incompetence in the courtroom.

He took over the top spot on the bench after former judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan at first pleaded guilty to corruption charges in January. They now want a trial.

"It's tested my resolve in going forward. We've had some bleak, bleak days. That has been difficult sometimes to get up in the morning and face the challenge of that day, never knowing what the next challenge was going to be. And it's still like that even to this day. I'm not sure what's going to happen this afternoon," said Muroski.

He has led the way to making the court more transparent and getting all of the judges involved, something he says former president judges Ciavarella and Conahan did not do.

"I would like to be remembered as the judge who brought the court to a point when it operated with all members and everyone was allowed to participate, everyone was allowed to vote on the direction of the court," said Muroski.

He insists the era of one man rule and secrecy is over, and has some advice to his successor. "Don't let the job go to your head. YouÕre just one judge. You just happened to be the judge who takes the vote. YouÕre the judge who is here to help implement the decisions made by all the judges," he said.

But most of all Judge Muroski wants the people of Luzerne County to know that the courthouse will be a place of true justice. "I think our people have been subjected to conduct unbecoming a judge or judges and I want them to know there are some good people on this bench, including those coming to the bench and that they cannot hold what has occurred in the past by people who took advantage of their positions. We're not all like that," he added.

Muroski says he believes it could take a decade or more for that trust to be regained. He says he hopes he is wrong, but says the mistrust runs very deep in Luzerne County.