Member News
TO: All Members of the Berks County Bar Association
FROM: Jeffrey K. Sprecher
RE: Book
Announcement
FROM: Jeffrey K. Sprecher
RE: Book
Announcement
After years of planning and preparation, the book Justice or Just This is about to be published. I am very pleased to make this announcement but recognize that all of us have a book in them. So please don’t think that I wrote the book because I think I know more than other members of the bar or the court. It’s precisely for the opposite reason. I know what most other attorneys know and that is, with all due respect to our district attorney, it’s ludicrous to believe that in an adversarial proceeding one side, the prosecutor, should be able to invoke a sentence - especially a mandatory minimum sentence. Or that a commission of eleven people, only a third being judges, who know absolutely nothing about the defendant, the victim, or the circumstances, should say that for this crime the point value will be X for that crime Y.
I also know, what everybody else knows, that the state (and country) is broke. Pennsylvania is fighting a $5 billion budget deficit and we are currently spending nearly $2 billion to build three new state prisons and to renovate seventeen existing ones to add a total of twelve-thousand new cells. I also know more of the obvious - that Jill M., Schedit, Esquire, the president of the Berks County Bar Association, has as her top agenda item, eliminating mandatory minimum sentences and returning sentencing discretion to judges.
I know what you know, and that is legislators have told us that mandatory minimum sentences should be eliminated. Frankly, for 15 years, I have heard them saying this. But, not one legislator has introduced legislation to eliminate them. Their most recent study conducted by the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing called for the elimination of school zone mandatory minimum sentences. And now two years have passed and still no action. Judges continue to be forced to subject people to unjust sentences that the sentencing judge may conclude is wrong.
It is also known by all of us that the only way we will get a legislator to do the right thing is to convince the people not to vote out anyone who supports reform. Until our elected officials are convinced that being soft on crime (whatever that means) does not translate to election day blues, no action will be had.
I also write about how the Pennsylvania Commission on Sentencing has inadvertently caused major prison overcrowding since its creation in 1982. Within 20 years of when the commission opened its doors in 1982, we built sixteen new state prisons, five more than were built in the entire history of our commonwealth before 1984.
That’s why I’ve written my book. It is available at www.jeffreysprecher.com . Thank you.
FIVE MEMBERS RECOGNIZED WITH
PRESIDENTIAL AWARD OF MERIT
At the Berks County Bar Association’s Annual Meeting on October 20, 2011, President Jill M. Scheidt recognized these five members for their outstanding work on behalf of the Bar Association this year.
Thomas W. Beaver for his dedicated service to the community and the legal profession by initiating and leading the Mortgage Foreclosure Intervention Task Force.
John C. Bradley, Jr. for his dedicated service as Chair of the Orphans’ Court Rules Committee, and in particular, for his hard work in leading to the adoption of the new Orphans’ Court fee guidelines by the Board of Judges.
Jennifer L. Nevins for her dedicated service as Vice Chair of the Orphans’ Court Rules Committee, and in particular, for her hard work in the drafting of the resolution setting forth the new Orphans’ Court fee guidelines that were adopted by the Board of Directors and, ultimately, the Board of Judges.
Kate L. Shantz for her competitive spirit and dedication in conceiving and organizing what has become an annual event, the Young vs. Seasoned Softball game.
James M. Smith for his dedicated service as chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee and his work increasing the interaction of the Association with public officials.
Thomas W. Beaver for his dedicated service to the community and the legal profession by initiating and leading the Mortgage Foreclosure Intervention Task Force.
John C. Bradley, Jr. for his dedicated service as Chair of the Orphans’ Court Rules Committee, and in particular, for his hard work in leading to the adoption of the new Orphans’ Court fee guidelines by the Board of Judges.
Jennifer L. Nevins for her dedicated service as Vice Chair of the Orphans’ Court Rules Committee, and in particular, for her hard work in the drafting of the resolution setting forth the new Orphans’ Court fee guidelines that were adopted by the Board of Directors and, ultimately, the Board of Judges.
Kate L. Shantz for her competitive spirit and dedication in conceiving and organizing what has become an annual event, the Young vs. Seasoned Softball game.
James M. Smith for his dedicated service as chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee and his work increasing the interaction of the Association with public officials.
Summary of New Berks County Rules
On May 16, 2011, the Amended Berks County Rules of Civil Procedure and Rules of Judicial Administration will go into effect. The changes were proposed by the Berks County Court of Common Pleas Civil Rules Committee and adopted by the Judges of the Berks County Court of Common Pleas by Order dated March 9, 2011.
Many of the changes to the rules are cosmetic - typos and outlining errors were corrected. Other changes were made to update the rules so that they are consistent with the realities of the court system as it exists today.
The changes made to the Berks County Rules of Civil Procedure include the following: Rules 106 [Computation of Time] and 211.4 [Argument Brief] were deleted. Rule 206.1(a) [Applications to Proceed in Manner of Petition] was amended to add "An application to compromise a claim filed on behalf of a minor or incapacitated person" to the list. Rule 214.3 [Scheduled List of Cases] now simply provides that the court follows an individual docket system and that each judge will schedule his or her own trials. Rule 239 [Local Rules - Notice of Adoption. Copies Thereof] was amended to include a reference to the rules being available online. Rule 440/441 [Manner of Service. Divorce Complaint. Proof of Service] was amended to remove reference to divorce complaints and service thereof. Rule 1018.1 [Notice to Defend] now requires the notice to defend as required by Pa.R. C.P. 1018.1 to be set forth in both English and Spanish. A minor addition was made to Rule 1028(c)(I) [Preliminary Objections] regarding the argument date. Under the Arbitration Rules, Rule 1302(f) [Administration] has been simplified and Rules 1315 [Compensation] and 1318 [Settlements] have minor changes. Rule 4004/4005 [Written Interrogatories] was split into two rules: Rule 4004 - "Written Depositions" and Rule 4005 - "Written Interrogatories." Rule 4009 [Location for Production of Documents and Things and Inspection] was renumbered as Rule 4009.1. Rule 4012/4019 [Application for Protective Orders andlor Sanction Orders Pertaining to Oral Depositions] was renumbered as Rule 4012. No changes were made to the Support, Custody or Divorce rules.
The changes made to the Berks County Rules of Judicial Administration include the following: The term "district justice" was changed to "magisterial district judge" throughout the rules. Rule 303 [Statement of Matters Complained of on Direct Appeal; Withdrawal of Appeal] was amended to delete the first part of the title and the first sentence of the rule, which is govemed by Pa.R.A.P. 1925. A minor change was made to Rule 402 [Record of Filing]. Rule 403 [Length of Time Maintained] was deleted. The text of Rule 1901 [Termination of Inactive Cases] was eliminated. It was replaced with the statement: "See Pa.R.C.P. 230.2." Under the Law Library Rules, Rules 6000.1 [Regular Hours Use]; 6000.2 [After Hours Use]; 6000.3 [Borrowing Privilege]; 6000.4 [Photocopying]; and 6000.5 [Interlibrary Loan and Borrowing] were deleted and were replaced by Rule 6000 [Law Library], which simply states that the law library shall be managed by the law librarian "who shall establish such policies, procedures and fees deemed necessary to provide research and other library services to the Bench, Bar and general Public."
Copies of the new rules will be available on line at www.co.berks.pa.us/courts or from the Berks County Law Library.
Deborah A. Sottosanti
Roland Stock, LLC
Berks County Court Rules
Did you know that you can get the local Court Rules from the Court’s website at www.co.berks.pa.us/courts? You may also get a hard copy of the Rules at the Law Library located in the Berks County Courthouse, 633 Court Street, 10th Floor, Reading, PA 19601.
Bar Association Member Profile Update
If you are planning to move or have already done so, please contact Joi Vanstone at (610) 375-4591 or by email at vanstone@berksbar.org to update your information. The Bar Association sends out member news periodically by a broadcast program. The program is designed to send news to the member's email address and if there is no email address in the database, it gets sent to a fax number. If you would prefer to receive emails rather than a fax please provide Joi Vanstone with your email address as well.
Cover Page Advertising Available
Advertising space for 2010 is available on the cover page of the Berks County Law Journal. The Journal is received by every member of the Berks County Bar Association, which presently exceeds 634 attorneys, and the circulation of the Journal has expanded in recent years to diverse subscribers, such as realtors, bankers, boroughs and various other professional entities. For more information on cover page advertising, please contact Joi Vanstone at (610) 375-4591.
