Emery retiring as Washington County president judge, but seeking to remain as senior judge
Scott Beveridge/Observer-Reporter
Washington County President Judge Katherine B. Emery, seated, is shown with Pennsylvania Superior Court judges, from left, Paula Ott, Jack Panella and Jaqueline Shogan in April 2015.
Judge Katherine B. Emery
One of the first directives issued by new President Judge Katherine B. Emery in early January 2015 was to restore the number 1 to the stately red courtroom on the second floor of the courthouse, its designation for 100 years. Jason Lesnock is shown making the change.
Nicole Elizabeth Furlong, left, and Amanda Raye Weinzen, exchange rings during their wedding ceremony conducted by Judge Katherine B. Emery in May of 2014 in Washington County Courthouse. Furlong and Weinzen were the first same-sex couple to be married at the courthouse.
Katherine B. Emery will end her tenure as Washington County’s president judge, but without skipping a beat, she expects to return in January as a senior judge retaining her current caseload.
Emery, who turned 65 in late November, wrote of her intention to Gov. Tom Wolf early that month, receiving an acknowledgement from his office last week.
The novel coronavirus pandemic, which has resulted in judicial emergencies and played havoc with court schedules, had no bearing on her decision, Emery said.
“I talked to all the other judges at the beginning of the year – before the pandemic – that I was planning on retiring sometime in 2020,” the judge said in a phone interview Tuesday.
“I actually hung on longer because of the pandemic.”
That is remarkable because, despite the risks, Emery had returned to her court duties in the spring of 2019 with a transplanted lung, bouncing back from pulmonary fibrosis.
After stints as Washington County director of human resources and solicitor, Emery ran for the office in 1995, winning retention in 2005 and 2015.
“When I retire I’ll have 24.99 years on the bench,” she mused. “If I completed 25 years, it wouldn’t be on the ballot until 2023.”
She said she timed her retirement toward “the least amount of vacancy that’s possible. I did that out of consideration of the workload of my fellow judges.”
The imminent vacancy means judicial hopefuls can file in 2021 for the spring primary, seeking a nomination for a candidacy in the general election. The full complement of Common Pleas Court judges has been, since last year, seven.
Washington County’s president judgeship is determined by seniority, and Judge John DiSalle, 60, elected in 2005, will take over the administrative duties the position entails.
“The Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts is responsible to facilitate, through the Department of State, the governor issuing a commission to the new president judge John DiSalle, effective Jan 1, 2021,” wrote Stacey Witalec, spokeswoman in response to an inquiry.
DiSalle, who was handling treatment court Tuesday for defendants beset by substance abuse, released a brief statement on the impending changes.
“It was an honor to work under Judge Emery during her tenure as president judge,” said DiSalle, who looks forward to carrying on the work of the president judge while “maintaining a great working relationship with colleagues and the attorneys of Washington County.”
Visitors to the courthouse can expect some reshuffling of the courtrooms and chambers including those of Judge Gary Gilman, Emery’s husband.
“Gary’s moving down into my office, which is sort of cool, because he’s next in line,” DiSalle said.
Judge Brandon Neuman will be moving up to Gilman’s Courtroom No. 4 on the top floor, and Emery will preside in what had been Neuman’s courtroom at the southeast corner of the ornate 120-year-old courthouse as one of two senior judges assigned to Washington County.
Judge Anthony Vardaro, who was president judge in Crawford County, has replaced Gerald Solomon of Fayette County who turned 78 this year, the maximum age for senior judges in Pennsylvania.
As Emery looked back on her nearly quarter-century as a jurist, she named some cases that stand out, first among them the Ira Swearingen murder.
The victim, a business consultant from Ohio, was kidnapped Dec. 12, 1999, from the parking lot of a Somerset Township adult bookstore, beaten, robbed, shot point-blank between the eyes and rolled off a cliff.
The case was one of “amazing detective work and vigorous defense, a very interesting and challenging case, both legally and factually,” Emery recalled.
She also presided at a civil trial that resulted in what is regarded as the county’s largest civil verdict – $14 million – in the case of two victims of a furnace explosion that spewed hot steel.
“They shared in the combined verdict,” the judge noted. “It was just a very agonizing case to hear what they had to go through. The injuries they received and the resilience they showed. Both survived and were honorable people.”
While murder trials garner headlines, another case, she learned years later, had a lasting impact.
The Children and Youth Services agency had removed a daughter from the custody of her mother, but Emery ordered they be reunited.
The judge was attending a function at Valley Brook Country Club when one of the servers took her aside and told her that her court order achieved stunning results in the eyes of both the mother and daughter, who by that time was a young adult.
“You don’t often see success or follow through and see the long-term effect,” Emery observed.
“I think, overall, juvenile court is the most impactful to me. It’s the most fulfilling and the most draining at the same time, and it affects the lives of so many people.”