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 The judges respond The judges in Common Pleas Court defend their work habits and the efficiency of the courts, saying some delays are inevitable in a system that handles as many cases as Allegheny County's. Here are their reactions to a Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette investigation that found a culture of short work days, long lunch breaks and
slow-moving cases in the county's criminal and civil courts. Judge Gerard M. Bigley, Criminal Division: ''There are jail delays almost every day. It is just about impossible to get [defendants] here before 9 a.m. They are brought in by vans and parceled out to various courtrooms. It takes a lot of time. Normally, when I finish my cases, I walk around the building and visit other judges. If there's nothing going on, I'll take some opinions I'm working on and do them at home. Most of the time I'm here until at least 4 o'clock. If I have a jury trial, I'll give the jurors from noon to 1:30 for lunch. Many of them may not eat Downtown on a regular basis, so they need time to find a place to eat and enjoy their lunch instead of swallowing it.'' President Judge Robert E. Dauer: ''Judges are elected by the [people] of Allegheny County. I have to deal with the pack of cards that I was dealt.'' Judge James H. McLean, newly appointed administrative judge of the Civil Division: ''I don't think the people of Allegheny County have been shortchanged or adversely impacted by any of the actions of our judges. I think we have an excellent operation.'' Judge James H. McLean, newly appointed administrative judge of the Civil Division: ''I don't think the people of Allegheny County have been shortchanged or adversely impacted by any of the actions of our judges. I think we have an excellent operation.'' Judge Jeffrey A. Manning, Criminal Division: ''This isn't US Airways or the Port Authority. Punctuality is not the most important thing we do here. Speed and efficiency do not mean fairness and justice. Sometimes the contrary.'' John A. Zottola, Criminal Division: ''You cannot forsake justice for efficiency.'' Lawrence J. O'Toole, Criminal Division: ''I suppose you could have judges punch a time clock. [But] judges are supposed to be professional. They take an oath to uphold the Constitution. . . . You have to rely on people's integrity at some point.'' David R. Cashman, Criminal Division: ''Sure, you've got people who come in at 11 and people who leave at 2. Could we be more efficient? Sure. But it's not just one person. It's the whole circle, the whole operation.'' Raymond A. Novak, Criminal Division: ''Litigation is inherently inefficient. It is a costly and inefficient way to resolve problems. That is why we try to negotiate and mediate.'' Paul F. Lutty Jr., Civil Division: ''I hate to have a jury sitting in the hall. But on the other side of the coin, there is no sense in starting a case [if a settlement is possible].'' W. Terrence O'Brien, Criminal Division: ''We have to overbook [scheduling numerous cases at the same time.] I analogize it to the airlines.'' S. Louis Farino, Civil Division: ''Everyone I know works at their job from 9:30 to noon and 1:30 to 4. I'll go later, of course, if there's a witness on the stand or we can finish something up. I don't like to keep people waiting, but sometimes it is unavoidable, especially if you are trying to settle a case. Jurors sometimes have to wait while I'm meeting with lawyers in chambers. We might be going over some ground rules or working on a settlement.'' Kathleen Durkin, Criminal Division: ''We are doing as well as we can with the volume of cases we handle.'' Paul R. Zavarella, former president judge, now in Orphans Court: ''I gauge my time of arrival on the traffic. If I want to get in early, I have to leave home by 6:30. I'm a 45-year veteran of the Parkway East and one of PennDOT's chief critics. If the lawyers want to work late, we work late. É I think the statistics in our annual reports are impressive. They always have been.'' Bernard J. McGowan, Civil Division: ''That [a judicial work ethic] is one of the hardest things in the world to quantify. I've never had it satisfactorily defined for me. It's human nature. Some people go about things differently than others, but the work gets done. You can't quantify the quality of justice, either. Melvin Belli once said that if you were hit by a car in California at 3 years of age, you would be an adult by the time the case was tried and all the appeals concluded. Cases don't take that long around here.''
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