Chief Justice Cappy to Resign as of Dec 31,2007

In a letter to Governor Rendell, the Chief Justice of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania resigned today, effective December 31, 2007. He has annointed Senior Justic Castille as his successor (hummmm...)

See release below:

Statement by Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy
September 11, 2007

After serving for nearly 30 years as a member of the Pennsylvania
judiciary, I have notified Governor Rendell of my decision to retire and
resign as a Justice of the Supreme Court at the end of 2007.
It is a decision made for personal reasons and after thoughtful
consideration. As I said in my letter to the Governor, I am proud of the
Supreme Court's record during the five years I have served as Chief
Justice. We have modernized. We have developed new programs to better
serve people who use the courts. We have worked to address the needs of
families, women and minorities in the courts. We have improved
courthouse security. And we have set in motion initiatives designed to
ensure other improvements as the years go on.
But for me, after years of an extremely busy work schedule, I believe it is
time to go. I had a hip replaced in July. During the period of recovery I had
time for reflection. I realized that, after nearly three decades on the bench,
the time had come for me to pass on the torch. I am 64 years old. My
health is still good. But I want to spend more time with my family and to
pursue personal interests.
I will continue to serve as chairperson of the board of trustees of the
University of Pittsburgh and as vice chairperson of the board of directors of
the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, but otherwise, I intend to cut
back on my public commitments.
Pennsylvanians may ask if the controversy over judicial compensation
played any part in my decision to retire. Let me be clear: The fact is that the
controversy played no part in this decision.
I accepted the job of Chief Justice knowing that I alone would have the task
of speaking for the entire Judicial Branch of government in Pennsylvania. I
have tried to do that forthrightly on the subject of judicial compensation and
on every issue involving judicial administration. My position on
compensation for judges has not changed in thirty years.
In a nutshell, I have always known that for our governmental system to
work as designed, the judiciary must be fully co-equal with the other
branches of government. Yet, without an army or the power of the purse,
the judiciary is the weakest of the three branches, and thus must depend
on the quality of the people who serve it for its strength and independence.
My view has always been that while we cannot hope to have judicial
salaries that compete with the private sector, we must have salaries high
enough to attract and retain outstanding people as judges. I fully expected
any practical effort to address the compensation issue to be controversial.
Even so, I believe the effort was in the public interest and that improved
compensation for our judges will pay dividends long into the future by
continuing to give Pennsylvanians a strong and independent judiciary.
The judiciary is an institution to which I have devoted most of my adult life,
first as a Common Pleas Court judge in Allegheny County and later as a
Supreme Court justice. I am proud of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial
System and all that we have accomplished within the courts. Although I will
leave judicial service at the end of this year, I will always remain committed
to the principles of judicial independence and judicial excellence. As
importantly, I will always treasure the honor of having worked with so many
fine colleagues who devote themselves to these principles.