Opinion ID: 6929139
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Action

Text: On November 10,1992, while Judge Guari-no was in the midst of a criminal trial, Judge Alexander Bonavitacola, Administrative Judge of the Trial Division of the Court of Common Pleas, entered Judge Guarino’s courtroom and requested that he call a recess. Judge Bonavitacola then delivered to Judge Guarino an order that he had just received which was signed “BY THE [PENNSYLVANIA SUPREME] COURT.” The order stated: [T]he Order ... assigning the Honorable Angelo Guarino to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas for the period of November 1,1992, to November 30,1992, is hereby revoked. Judge Guarino is not authorized to complete unfinished business pending before him with regard to his assignment for the above period as provided by Pa.R.Jud.Adm. 701(f). Since issuance of the order Judge Guarino has not been reassigned to sit as a judge, and his pending cases have been reassigned to other judges. The order resulted in a significant amount of publicity.' Although the order did not specify the grounds for revocation of Judge Guarino’s assignment, newspaper articles suggested that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was acting in response to Judge Guari-no’s “mistreat[ment]” of potential jurors. On February 11, 1983, Judge Guarino, who felt “completely disgrace[d]” by the order, filed suit in the district court against the Justices and Ms. Sobolevitch. His complaint alleged that the Supreme Court’s November, 1992 order deprived him of his liberty and property without due process in violation of the United States Constitution. He requested a declaratory judgment, compensatory damages, and an injunction requiring the defendants to assign him as, a senior judge on active status. The district court set the matter for hearing on March 11, 1993. In the interim, on February 26, 1993, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an order directing Judge Guarino to appear before the Supreme Court on March 9 to “show cause why the order entered on November 10 ... should not remain in full force and effect.” However, Judge Guarino’s counsel advised the Court by letter that neither he nor Judge Guarino would appear at the hearing and neither appeared. Thus, on March 10, the Court entered a per curiam order affirming its November order. In justifying its order, the court pointed to the Levy action, and recited that “[t]he temporary assignment of a retired judge to judicial service is a matter solely within the discretion of this Court, and any such assignment may be revoked for any reason at this Court’s discretion.” The court also stated that by virtue of the March 9th hearing it had “afforded Judge Guarino [an] opportunity to present all the facts, legal contentions and other considerations he deem[ed] appropriate and relevant.”