[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 3, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E512]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                LAVELLE RETIRING AFTER 23 YEARS AS JUDGE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. PAUL E. KANJORSKI

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 3, 2001

  Mr. KANJORSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to John P. 
Lavelle, who is retiring after 23 years as a judge of Carbon County, 
Pennsylvania, including 15 years when he served as the county's only 
judge.
  Judge Lavelle, the son of Irish immigrants, was born in 1931, grew up 
in Philadelphia and earned his bachelor of arts degree from Niagara 
University in 1953. He went on to get his law degree from Villanova 
University in 1958, holding the distinction of being a member of the 
first class held at the Villanova School of Law in 1953. He interrupted 
his law studies for two years to serve his country in the Army in Italy 
and Austria. The same year he graduated from law school, he married 
Marianne Shutack of Nesquehoning, who can claim a ``first'' in her own 
right as the first woman admitted to the Carbon County bar.
  He began his career in the Philadelphia law offices of renowned 
criminal lawyer Morton Witkin and also worked briefly for the firm of 
Bennett & Bricklin. He also indulged his love of classical language by 
teaching Latin as a part-time professor at Villanova.
  In 1959, he moved to Carbon County and began an active general law 
practice with his wife and his father-in-law, George Shutack. His roots 
and upbringing gave him a natural empathy for the underdog, and many of 
his legal battles were fought for average people overwhelmed by big 
business or big government. Inspired by President John F. Kennedy, whom 
he deeply admired, he was active in Democratic politics throughout the 
1960s and 1970s.
  In 1965, he and his wife built a home in Lehighton, where they have 
lived ever since. He has often assumed a leadership role in improving 
his adopted community. For example, he helped to obtain the funding for 
the Carbon County Airport and spearheaded that project in 1961. He was 
also the first solicitor for the county airport authority and served in 
that role for 10 years. In 1966, he organized and obtained the charter 
for the First Federal Savings and Loan Association of Carbon County, 
helping to bring the county its first federally insured savings and 
loan association. He also arranged for the financing and construction 
of the first professional building in Lehighton, as well as Park View 
House, the first modern commercial apartment building in the town.
  The future judge served as county solicitor from 1971 to 1978. He was 
elected judge in the shortest election campaign in Pennsylvania 
history, when the state Supreme Court ruled just weeks before the 
November 1977 election that the governor could not fill the vacant 
judgeship by appointment because the state election board should have 
known the judge who was retiring was approaching the mandatory 
retirement age.
  Judge Lavelle assumed his duties with his typical energy and 
enthusiasm. After a year of study and evaluation, he began to bring the 
court system into the computer age, automating the antiquated manual 
record-keeping system, streamlining office procedures and writing new 
rules of court and manuals to train court personnel in the new system.
  In 1979, he initiated a one-day, one-trial system and developed and 
produced a unique audiovisual orientation program for jurors that is 
still used today. He also reorganized and restructured all court 
offices and appointed women to key positions in the court system. In 
1980, he worked to obtain federal funding to cover half the cost of 
converting the old arbitration room on the courthouse's third floor 
into a modern wood-paneled courtroom.
  His courtroom was the focal point for several highly publicized cases 
during his first term. In November 1979, he made the unprecedented 
decision to call off and nullify the general election in Carbon County 
because the voting machines used throughout the county would not permit 
cross-voting. He also presided at the 1982 murder trial of Robert 
``Mudman'' Simon, a motorcycle gang member who was convicted of killing 
an 18-year-old girl whose body was not found until seven years after 
her death. He also presided over a 1985 murder trial, which was the 
first time the battered-wife syndrome defense was used, resulting in an 
acquittal by the jury.
  The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recognized his abilities by appointing 
him to preside over the two long and complex 1991 civil libel trials of 
a state Supreme Court justice against the Philadelphia Inquirer. He did 
not hesitate to file suit against the county commissioners in 1989 when 
they had refused raises for court employees and removed funds from the 
court budget. He successfully lobbied the state Legislature the 
following year to add a second judgeship for the county to handle the 
court system's heavy workload.
  In 1991, he completely revised and adopted new rules of civil 
procedure, and in 1992 and 1993, he launched new case management 
systems to expedite the handling of both civil and criminal cases.
  On occasion, Judge Lavelle has issued unusual and creative orders to 
see that justice is done, including sentencing a woman with a long 
record of calling in false fire alarms to the Lehighton Fire Company to 
clean the fire trucks for six months. In 1984, he became one of the 
first trial judges in the state to order a school board and striking 
teachers to negotiate daily to end a contract impasse.
  Judge Lavelle and his wife have four children, who have every reason 
to be proud of their father's distinguished career.
  Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to call to the attention of the House of 
Representatives the long history of Judge John Lavelle's service to the 
people of Carbon County and all of Pennsylvania, and I wish him all the 
best in retirement.

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