Interview of Marie Farley for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library. Farley discusses her work as a judicial law clerk in the Cumberland County Court System including for Judge George Hoffer.
Additional information provided post-interview:
One is the judicial law clerks – back in the “early days” law clerks were part-time law students, who depending on their year in law school, were paid the magnificent sum of $7.50 to $8.50 per hour. Judge Hoffer was instrumental in getting higher pay for those students – although after much negotiation with county officials. At some point after becoming President Judge he was allowed to hire a “real lawyer” who had already passed the Bar exam. Present day law clerks are required to have passed the Bar exam before they can be employed as judicial law clerks. Each judge has one such law clerk.
The other thing is the use of video equipment. To save time, expense, and just for ease of not having to run prisoners from other counties (or even just down at CCP) certain court hearings, such as bench warrants, arraignments, and occasionally a state intermediate punishment program sentence are done via video in the courtroom. All the necessary people – except the defendant – assemble in the courtroom for what can literally be a five minute proceeding while the defendant appears via video. In the past, the sheriff’s deputies would make multiple runs a day to county prisons in Perry, Franklin, Dauphin, York, Lancaster, etc.
Present day – the sheriff’s deputies still make those trips – but that is because when it’s time for a plea or a trial, it’s the defendant’s right to appear in an open courtroom – and the Judges and attorneys feel it important to have the defendant appear in front of them in person to make sure they understand the proceeding and “get their day in court” so to speak.
About the increase in criminal caseloads – what used to be able to be completed in one day of “prisoner pretrials” and one day of “the rest of the list” has now become at a minimum 3 days of pretrial conferences; one day where the courthouse personnel (Judge, DA’s, PD’s, private counsel, clerks, probation officials, court reporter, administrative staff) travel to the county prison – and then two days of such pretrial conferences here in the courthouse which usually consists of two judges working a morning and afternoon session – until the 400 to upwards of 550 to 700 cases are disposed of.
Another thing I remembered is when I first started coming to Cumberland County as a freelance reporter filling in with a Judge – Judge Shughart was the President Judge, and a deliberating jury was furnished with a cheese sandwich from I think the Hamilton if their deliberations went over a lunch hour. And if you happened to still be deliberating during suppertime you were treated to chicken fingers from the same Hamilton. Now very seldom do the courts stay open past the normal operating hours due to budgetary concerns.
Interview of Charles H. Stone by Susan Meehan for the Elizabeth V. and George F. Gardner Digital Library Memory Bank. Stone discusses growing up in the West Shore area of Cumberland County, his father's box manufacturing company, and his career as a lawyer.