Misconduct Charges Filed Against Judge

From The Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Times-Leader:

For years, attorneys and courthouse insiders have accused Luzerne County Judge Ann Lokuta of being rude, crude and verbally abusive. On Monday, state investigators agreed, and added wide-ranging allegations that could remove her from the bench.

The state’s Judicial Conduct Board filed misconduct charges against Lokuta on Monday, accusing her of violating six of the so-called Canons of Judicial Conduct.

Among the allegations are that the judge:

• Made an employee clean her home, shovel snow and scrub her floor by hand on county time.

• Slept until noon, causing a major delay in hearings.

• Arrived to work with unkempt, greasy hair and wore the same clothes, stained, day after day.

• Directed her employees to lie about her whereabouts when she would miss court.

• Stopped proceedings if a deputy sheriff’s keys rattled too loudly.

• Repeatedly harassed and belittled her own employees, while also developing a relationship with a current subordinate.

“Since taking the bench in 1992, (Lokuta) routinely engages in a pattern of behavior toward court personnel and her personal staff characterized as discourteous, rude, impatient, undignified, abusive, unprofessional, demeaning, humiliating, intimidating and volatile,” Francis J. Puskas, deputy chief counsel for the Judicial Conduct Board, wrote.

All the allegations were denied by Lokuta.

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