Zappalas, Ories play family feud
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I take guilty pleasure when political families feud, and this latest dustup between the Zappalas and the Ories is a beaut.
Allegheny County District Attorney Steve Zappala Jr. targeted state Sen. Jane Orie for allegedly improper campaign work she did for her sister the judge. Sen. Orie turned right around and called for an audit of the district attorney's brother, who happens to be in the youth-prison business.
She says revenge has nothing to do with it.
Sure it doesn't.
PG STORE
This gets even better because the county's own Mr. Microphone, Cyril Wecht, has jumped in to play the same role Doc Holliday played back when the Earps tangled with the Clantons at the O.K. Corral. Doc Wecht has thrown in with the Ories, even making reference to Steve Zappala and an Italian-American FBI agent as a couple of "goombahs.''
And ol' Doc Wecht is shocked, just shocked, that anybody could consider that a slur.
There's no need to take sides here, or at least no rush. Any time political families from opposing parties start flipping over each other's laundry baskets, the only sane course is to stand back and watch how many soiled items turn up.
If you're a betting man, though, I wouldn't bet against the Zappalas, a family with a remarkable ability to walk right through political hurricanes without so much as a hair out of place or a necktie askew.
Take what is arguably the most disturbing scandal to hit the commonwealth in decades -- which is saying something. That's the $2.6 million "kids for cash'' scandal out of Luzerne County. A couple of Common Pleas judges there, Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan, stand accused of taking kickbacks for funneling juveniles to for-profit detention centers, via quick trials for minor offenses. Thousands of juvenile convictions since have been overturned by the Supreme Court, but only after the families were broken.
Gregory Zappala, the district attorney's brother, owns both Western Pennsylvania Child Care in northern Butler County and Pennsylvania Child Care in Luzerne County. Mr. Zappala's former business partner, Robert Powell, faces criminal charges but no evidence has ever been presented that Mr. Zappala knew of any improper arrangement. Attorneys bringing a civil suit against the Luzerne County judges and other court officials do not name Mr. Zappala in the suit.
First Published January 31, 2010 12:00 am
