Ronald Castille

Also known as State Supreme Court Justice Ronald D. Castille
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===Media===
====Castille releases letter assailing critic of Pa. court====
: By Amy Worden, Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau
HARRISBURG - State Supreme Court Justice Ronald D. Castille has released a
letter he wrote last month lambasting a vocal critic of his court, and says
he may yet pursue disciplinary action against that critic. 
Castille suggested he might ask the court's Disciplinary Board to act
against Duquesne University law professor Bruce Ledewitz for what Castille
called "unfounded and baseless charges of criminal conduct towards this
court."
"I am leaving it open," he said yesterday in a telephone interview.
Castille noted that the Disciplinary Board, appointed by and controlled by
the Supreme Court, could initiate action against Ledewitz on its own. 
This week, that board got a new chairman: Bryn Mawr lawyer Jonathan Newman,
the former chairman of the Liquor Control Board and son of former Supreme
Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman, who quit last year to join a law firm. 
In Castille's letter, the full contents of which were made public yesterday,
the justice wrote that Ledewitz should face possible sanctions for violating
rules of professional conduct that forbid lawyers from making false
statements. 
As the letter noted, Ledewitz, in an February 2007 interview with the Beaver
County Times, called the high court "even more corrupt than the legislature"
for rulings arising from the controversial 2005 legislative pay raise.
Ledewitz said the justices' decision to strike down the legislators' pay
hike while upholding raises for themselves and other judges was "a swindle."
Last week, the Castille letter sparked controversy when Ledewitz revealed
parts of it during his testimony at a hearing of the Senate state government
committee in Harrisburg. Some senators accused Castille of trying to stifle
dissent; the panel voted unanimously to use subpoena power if necessary to
get the letter.
Castille initially refused to release the letter but said he relented when
asked by Stephen MacNett, general counsel to the Senate Republicans, whom
Castille said he has known for years.
The letter, dated March 22, 2007, was sent to Ledewitz's colleague, law professor
Ken Gormley. In it, Castille declined an invitation to attend a reception
held last night at Duquesne for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito
Jr., saying he did not want to "lend the prestige" of the state's highest
court to an event hosted by a school that gave Ledewitz a forum.
"It is disgraceful that Duquesne Law School continues to provide the
professor a forum to make these charges," Castille wrote. 
The ACLU has offered to defend Ledewitz before the Disciplinary Board if
necessary. Ledewitz said in an e-mail yesterday that thus far, he knew of no
complaint filed against him. 
But hostile words between the Senate committee chairman, Jeffrey Piccola
(R., Dauphin), and Castille, a fellow Republican and former Philadelphia
district attorney, were still flying yesterday.
"I hope the release of the letter serves as a deterrent for future conduct
of intimidating a witness," Piccola said. "It's a crime to intimidate a
witness who comes before the court. Shouldn't that apply to the
legislature?"
"He's hallucinating," Castille said of Piccola. "That assumes I knew
[Ledewitz] was going to testify. I have more important things to do."
Castille's letter provides a glimpse into the lingering effects of a scandal
that tarnished the state Supreme Court more than a decade ago. Referring to
the impeachment of Justice Rolf Larsen in 1994 following his conviction on a
drug-related charge, Castille wrote that the seven justices had "struggled
to overcome the problems caused by a former justice of this court." 
"We've worked 10 or 12 years doing great things," Castille said yesterday.
"But, like in politics, it's hard to lower your negatives."
* http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070405_Castille_releases_letter_assailing_a_critic_of_court.html
Castille