Page 12
Arthur D. Dalessando, in-
cumbent candidate for Judge of
the Luzerne County Court of
Common Pleas, has indicated,
during a recent interview with
the Dallas Post, his belief that
the upcoming election will be a
very close race between him
and his opponent, Atty. Frank
Townend.
In listing his own major
qualifications, which include 17
years as a trial lawyer, and 18
months wearing a judge's robe,
Judge Dalessandro pointed out
that his opponent’s practice is
big business-oriented, adding
that Mr. Townend is a ‘‘high-
type gentleman...but we are not
“electing a civil defense of-
ficial.”
The judge referred to a Gov.
Milton Shapp resolution on the
merit selection of judges. The
document calls for professional
competence in the state's
judges. ‘Trial lawyer com-
pelence is needed here”, he
sums up.
The judge proudly claims to
having tried over 300 ‘‘actual”
cases as a judge, thus far. In his
position he tries all manner of
counly cases, working on a
rolaling assignment system
with the other county judges. He
is specifically responsible for
the jury system, general rules
of court, court statistics, boards
of revue, out-of-state judges,
and out-of-county lawyers as
well.
He is also proud of two in-
novalions he has added to the
county courl system. With the
lawyers ‘‘0.k.”, he has tried a
number of cases with a’ jury of
six, rather than the traditional
12, and, again with pre-irial
approval of the lawyers in-
volved, he has accepted five-
sixth agreement as a decision in
jury trials. He points out that
the U.S. Supreme Court has sus-
tained Louisiana’s three-fourths
decision system, and that they
also have approved deviations
from the jury of 12.
The judge claims that the
jury-of-six system has saved a
great deal of money and time,
~—especially~in-condemnation
cases, which only he (ries.
These (rials invariably call for
the busing of the juries lo sites
in question, he said. Jurors are
currently paid $9. a day. The
time factor, and the hung-jury
problem, “are his reasons for
favoring the five-sixth decision,
he said, which is being suppor-
ted by a bill now in Harrisburg.
Another personal innovation
the judge finds helpful is
“charging” the jury before the
cases are presented. Charging
the jury is what judges tradi-
tionally do following the full
presentation of both lawyers.
The judge explains basic funda-
mentals of pertaining laws, lets
the jury know its options, and
guides its decision to an extent.
Judge Dalessandro finds that by
explaining some of the funda-
mentals before the case begins,
the jurors have a better idea of
what is going on as the cases
develop. He charges them again
al the end, reminding them of
the basics and giving them the
other supplementals.
Judge Dalessandro also
thinks that his age, 47, com-
pared to that of his opponent, is
another advantage that he has.
He points out that a judge must
relire at age 70.
The judge has been admitted
lo practice in the U.S. Supreme
Court; the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit, at
Philadelphia; the U.S. Eastern
District Court at Philadelphia;
the U.S. District Court for the
Middle District of Pennsyl-
vania, al Scranton; the Penn-
sylvania Supreme Court;
Pennsylvania Superior Court;
the Commonwealth Court of
Pennsylvania, and the Luzerne
County Courts. He is especially
proud, and he finds it especially
to his advantage as a candidate,
to have actually practiced in
every one of those courts, ex-
cept the new Commonwealth
Court.
Asked what he thought of
executive privilege, as Presi-
dent Nixon is currently evoking
it, the judge replied, ‘‘I don’t
like it."’ He added, ‘‘For one
man lo say ‘laws don’t apply to
me’ is very wrong...This is a
drastic thing...the respect for
our government and officials.”
He gave the opinion that the
effect of distrust of national
officials, will affect even local
officials and police officers.
He declined an answer when
asked what he thought of the
way Superintendent Leonard
Mack is running the State
Correctional Institution at
“Dallas (SCID). He said that it
was not in his jurisdiction and
that he lacked the facts. He did
point out that he has heard some
mention that the superintendent
s ‘‘too soft”.
Giving his opinion on another
subject, he said, ‘“The death
penally is essential to our
society.” He pointed out that he
doesn’t want himself or any one
man lo have the power to say
“who lives and who dies’’, but
he favors the system as it did
exist in Pennsylvania. If one
jury turned in a ‘‘guilly of first
degree murder’ decision,
another jury would decide if the
death penalty would be used; if
it was a trial without jury, two
other judges would normally be
called in, so that three men
would decide, by majority, if
the death penalty should apply.
Judge Dalessandro is not sure
that mandatory death penalties,
for certain crimes, is the an-
swer. He said he feels that a
judge’s discretion may be
necessary in some cases.
The judge offers the opinion
that the majority of the
members of the U.S. Supreme
Court, in abolishing the death
penalty, did not give any con-
sideration to the victims. The
judge favors legislation that
would provide for the victims
and the families of the victims
of vicious crimes. He points out
that it would have to be a
“strictly administered’, insur-
ance-lype program.
On a similar train of thought,
he said, “I violently disagree
with giving bail to accused mur-
derers.”” He points out that the
only time he has been over-
turned by the stale Supreme
Court, it was on his refusal to
grant bail in the recent Minelli
murder case. ‘I didn’t mind
being reversed on that because
I believe I was right,” he adds.
The Supreme Court’s
reasoning in the reversal was
that since there is no more
capitol punishment in the state,
there are no more capitol
crimes, so all crimes are bail-
able.
The judge does not think that
long jail terms are a cure. He
points out that he gives a long
term in special cases only. ‘Our
system is one of rehabilitation’’,
he commented.
Asked about the recent
concern of some that men from
SCID were being released to
outside work programs without
the approval of the sentencing
judge, his answer revealed that
the issue is not a large cause of
concern with him. ‘When a man
is sentenced to two years or
more, his parole is oul of our
hands...in the jurisdiction of the
Pennsylvania Board of Pro-
bations and Parole.” He added
that some judges were con-
cerned about their personal
safely, when men they had
sentenced were released to
work programs without their
knowledge. Judge Dalessandro
said that now the judges are
being advised of upcoming
Memorial Hwy.
DALLAS
releases, and that the judges
are also asked for their opinions
on the release.
The judge does not agree with
those who would have the jury-
trial system done away with. He
feels that the right to ‘‘a trial by
one’s peers is another check in
the nation’s system of checks
and balances.” He commented
thal many instances of past
oppression were carried out
under court systems that lacked
the trial-by-jury right.
He added that he would like to
see a ‘‘belter cross-section of
the population on the juries.”
Because the system is ‘‘almost
on a volunteer basis’, there is
an over-abundance, an over-
representation of the elderly
and the lower-classed income
group on the juries, the judge
claims. He attributes this to the
working person’s desire to stay
on the job, and to the $9 per day
jury pay. He expressed the
opinion that more young per-
sons especially, should be
iaking seals on juries.
The judge said that he truly
enjoyed his years as a trial
lawyer and that he enjoys being
a judge, though he points out
that it’s not an easy job. He says
that he spends many sleepless
nights, “It’s not easy to sen-
lence a man.”
The judge is openly proud of
his past employment record,
which helped him get through
law school, and which reads like
the ‘About the Author’ page on
a novelist who tried just about
everything once before settling
down to writing about life. He
was a paper boy, a farm
worker, a short order cook, a
theater usher, a clerk in a social
security office, a grease boy
and mechanics helper, a coal
truck driver, a department
store salesman promoted to
manager of the sporting goods
department, a highway con-
struction worker, and an insur-
ance salesman, in that order,
before he started his law
career.
As a trial lawyer, he attended
he finds to his advantage now.
He points out that he now at-
tends judicial seminars.
The judge was born in Yates-
ville, the son of a coal miner and
a silk mill worker, Dominiek
and Mary Dalessandro. He
married the former Florence
Yasko Dowling of Hanover
Green. He lives al 874 Exeter
Ave., Exeter, with his wife and
their nine-year old son, Daiv
Arthur.
He lists travel and photo-
graphy as his favorite hobbies,
and he is fond of telling stories
of cases from his practicing law
days.
New Phone Number
Franklin Twp. Police
333-4848
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THE DALLAS POST, JULY 19, 1973 ? * IA Greenstreet News Co. o. Publication
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