Bisignani Moyle, Castellano to square off for county judgeship
Published: May 20, 2009
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share thisTwo deputy district attorneys will vie for the county's newest judgeship this fall in a race that will likely continue to touch on issues brought to light by Luzerne County's judicial scandals.
According to unofficial results with 156 of 163 precincts reporting, Margaret Bisignani Moyle won the Democratic nomination Tuesday night with 13,785 votes. Her colleague, Frank Castellano, won the Republican nomination with 3,264 votes.
The two, along with candidates John Pesota and James Tierney, were cross-filed on Republican and Democratic ballots.
In addition to the judicial race, three sitting magisterial district judges ran uncontested for another term: Alyce Hailstone Farrell, who serves part of Scranton; Thomas J. Golden, who serves Dunmore; and Sean P. McGraw, who serves Carbondale.
Ms. Bisignani Moyle, a deputy district attorney in charge of the county's felony drug unit, relied on her experience as a trial lawyer when speaking to voters on the campaign trail. The 47-year-old Scranton resident's campaign centered on her career as a prosecutor.
Ms. Bisignani Moyle said she was surprised by the results, because she did no polling while on the campaign trail and did not know what to expect Tuesday.
"I knocked on doors every day for the past four months, explaining what my qualifications were," she said. "I've spent the last 21 years in a courtroom; I've done 107 trials. It's my time to run."
Frank Castellano, 37, is a deputy district attorney in charge of the county's juvenile division. For the last few months, he told voters about his involvement in the community and that elected officials should "give back more than they take." Mr. Castellano, the sole Republican campaigning for judge, is involved with the Boy Scouts, American Cancer Society, St. Francis of Assisi Kitchen, La Festa Italiana and UNICO.
"Our message was simple, and it resonated with voters," Mr. Castellano said. "Now more than ever, honesty and integrity matter ... in government and on the bench."
Also campaigning for judges was James Tierney, managing partner at the law firm Cipriani & Werner's Scranton office and John Pesota, who has served as a magisterial district judge for nearly 10 years.
The seat the four were campaigning for was created in October by Gov. Ed Rendell in response to the growing caseload in Lackawanna County. The number of criminal cases opened each year has increased by 25 percent in the past four years, according to a report from the county court administrator's office. The number of civil cases is also growing, from 1,669 filed in 2005, to 3,112 filed last year, the same report states. The backlog of criminal and civil cases is also growing, court officials say.
County judges serve for 10 years and are paid $161,850 a year.
The role of the new judge remains unclear. All of the judges in Lackawanna County have a specialty, and President Judge Chester Harhut has said in previous interviews that he will wait to see who is elected in November before deciding what the new judge's role will be.
In recent weeks, Mr. Tierney has come under fire for refusing to answer questions about a multimillion-dollar arbitration award he and his wife received in 2006 for injuries they suffered in a bus accident on Interstate 380.
The Times-Tribune has reported on questions that surround Mr. Tierney's underinsured motorist case, including whether Judge Harhut acted appropriately when he appointed attorney Larry Moran as a neutral arbitrator in the case, since the judge is the godfather of Mr. Tierney's 10-year-old son and Mr. Tierney worked as a law clerk for Judge Harhut in the 1990s.
Mr. Moran's son, Larry Moran Jr., is working as Mr. Tierney's campaign coordinator.
The Times-Tribune stories also raised questions about Mr. Tierney's ability to serve if he was elected judge. Mr. Tierney said he suffered injuries to his arm and hand that may make it difficult or impossible to work at some point in the future, though he told The Times-Tribune "no one knows when that might happen or if it will."
LACKAWANNA COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS JUDGE
DEMOCRATS
�Margaret A. Bisignani Moyle 14,485
John P. Pesota 9,729
Frank Castellano 8,164
Jim Tierney 7,078
REPUBLICANS
�Frank Castellano 3,615
Margaret A. Bisignani Moyle 3,069
John P. Pesota 1,969
Jim Tierney 1,714
MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT JUDGES District 45-1-02 (Scranton)
DEMOCRATS
� Alyce Hailstone Farrell 1,431
REPUBLICANS
� Alyce Hailstone Farrell 411
District 45-1-07 (Dunmore)
DEMOCRATS
� Thomas J. Golden 1,172
REPUBLICANS
� Thomas J. Golden 649
District 45-3-03 (Carbondale)
DEMOCRATS
� Sean P. McGraw 883
REPUBLICANS
� Sean P. McGraw 495
Contact the writer: enissley@timesshamrock.com
17 posted comments
All that I told you are FACTS. There is no underdermining of Ms. Moyle, she is a fine an atty. Its just that the Times has a way of "backing" their people. I just hope they dont try and throw Mr. Castellano under the bus for their own purposes.
I was wondering if you knew that the Times investigated the Tierney case 3 years ago and found nothing to print about. Also I was wondering if you know that the family that ownes the paper also contributed 14-15 thousand dollars to Ms. Moyle. That seems to bit a bit odd for all that infomation to come out on the largest circulation of the paper (that being the Mother's Day addition) Seems a litte strange Jeff dont you think??
The truth..... since when did politics or the Times have anything to do with the truth. Are you telling me that Nissley has cleaned up local politics by "getting" Tierney. Do you now believe that only pious God-fearing men well dabble in local politics? One newspaper (or whatever you want to call it) in a city immediately means it will print whatever it needs to achieve it's agenda. It is a fact that Moyle and Nissley are facebook pals. These are the things that I am angry with. It has nothing to do with Tierney it has everything to do with a paper using it's "bully pulpit" to hoodwink all of their readers into supporting a candidate. Unless you now believe that Lackawanna County is clean as a whistle.
The media should keep this story alive until we have real change.