By Max Mitchell
Of the Legal Staff
Two nonlawyers and one Superior Court judge have been appointed to fill vacancies on the board that investigates alleged judicial misconduct and the court where the judicial misconduct allegations are tried.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has appointed Superior Court Judge Jack A. Panella to the Court of Judicial Discipline. Earlier this month, Governor Tom Corbett appointed Kenneth E. Lawrence Jr. and Thomas M. Tigue to the Judicial Conduct Board.
This will be the second time Panella has served on the Court of Judicial Discipline. He previously served on the disciplinary court from 1997 to 2001. Panella previously served for 12 years as a trial judge in Northampton County, and most recently has served on the Superior Court since 2004.
“Jack has served the people of Northampton County and the state of Pennsylvania well for several years and will be an outstanding addition to the Court of Judicial Discipline,” Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille said in a statement to the press. “He is a proven leader with outstanding credentials to serve in Pennsylvania’s judiciary disciplinary oversight system.”
Tigue is a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, who served from 1981 until 2006, and Lawrence is the senior vice president for government, community and public affairs for Temple University. Lawrence will fill the unexpired term of Francis Bianconi, who passed away this spring. The term will expire on August 16, 2014. Tigue’s four-year term will expire on September 3, 2017. Both Tigue and Lawrence are Democrats.
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