Judge Gets Chance to Argue Corrupt Colleagues Orchestrated Her Ouster

A Pennsylvania judge removed from the bench will get a chance to make her case that she was kicked off the bench because of a conspiracy by two judges who have pleaded guilty to a kickback scheme in Luzerne County.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered a disciplinary court to consider whether former Luzerne County Judge Ann Lokuta deserves a new hearing, the Times Leader reports. The court also stayed Lokuta’s removal from the bench and kept her judicial seat off the May ballot.

Lokuta had been removed from office in part for creating a warlike atmosphere with the other judges. She claimed witnesses who testified about the troubled atmosphere and her alleged abuse of staffers were part of a conspiracy orchestrated by former president judges Michael Conahan and Mark Ciavarella to remove her for whistle-blowing.

The judges pleaded guilty to fraud charges last month in a scheme to accept $2.6 million in kickbacks from the owners of a juvenile detention facility.

Hat tip to How Appealing.