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The newest judge to sit on the Delaware County Court is Linda Cartisano. Delaware County Magazine sat down with this 30-year veteran of the court system on her second day of judgeship in the family division after returning from New Judges School, interviewing her and getting her perspective on Delco Court�s legal past, present and future.

Born in Philadelphia, she is a life-long resident of the City of Chester. Her career spans 30 years in law, starting as a law clerk in the solicitor�s office in the City of Chester in 1979. In 1981, she became assistant city solicitor. In 1996, she was made city solicitor and held that position until December 2009 when she officially retired after being elected county judge. She also served as assistant county solicitor for 2 years; as a custody conciliator for 3 years; as an attorney in the Office of Support Enforcement as needed; had a private practice that focused on domestic issues from 1979 to 2001; and in 2002 was elected to Delaware County Council where she served 2 terms�in 2006 becoming Vice-Chairperson, and 2008 becoming Chairperson. She has also held varied municipal solicitorships through the years.

DCM: During your campaign for Delaware County Judge, what was the most memorable thing about running for judge? JLC: I don�t know the most memorable, but one of the things was on occasion I would be contacted either at a function, on Facebook, through friends�from people who I had heard their custody case. And even though it had been at least 10 years, they would comment on the fact that they had been in front of me on a custody action. Some were plaintiffs, some were defendants, but they all felt they had gotten a fair hearing, gotten an opportunity to discuss the issues and were happy with the result. That was a very rewarding feeling, because when people walk out of the courtroom you�re never quite sure if they�re going to have second feelings. And most people felt that if it wasn�t the result they wanted, they at least felt that it was fair. That was a very nice feeling.

DCM: Facebook?

JLC: Actually, a woman who friended me happened to note that I had heard her custody case. And she said that I was fair, I listened to both sides. I don�t really remember these cases. Unless they�re really memorable, you don�t remember them.

DCM: I understand that last week was New Judge School week. What does one do at New Judge School? JLC: You spend a week up at the Nittany Lion Inn at Penn State. It�s very intense. It goes from 8 am to 5 pm, in class and discussion groups, and then you have an hour to two hour dinner, where you�re required to attend. A lot of it is discussion of how other counties, other judges, do things. They go over the main aspects of the three divisions�criminal, civil, and family. You�re then put in a group with people who are going to be hearing the same type of cases and you discuss experiences. Some of us had sat (as judges), some of had not. You�re assigned a seasoned judge, who volunteers for the week and basically helps you learn how to conduct a court case: What are some of things you can do, you can�t do. What are some of the ways that you can move the case along, come to a resolution, come to a solution for the individuals. We really had no time for ourselves.

DCM: Today you�re hearing domestic cases. Yesterday you heard juvenile cases. What does your position entail? JLC: Right now I�m doing support cases. Yesterday I heard juvenile delinquency cases. Next week I have a special relief list, I have a CYS list, another domestic list. At some point I�ll have a protection from abuse list, custody cases. We usually have assigned court days where petitions or motions are placed on the list. We hear those items. We�re then assigned certain cases which need a trial and then we schedule those individually.

DCM: I noticed the list on your desk has some 40 cases. Is that your case list for the day?

JLC: I had 61 on my list today.

DCM: How do you hear 61 cases in a day?

JLC: That�s why I�m still sitting here. We have about seven or eight left. Maybe five came off the list. Some are simply to make sure people are complying with the order, or trying to comply. Some people need a little incentive to comply. Some people need a little help in complying. So each case is a little different, each case requires a little bit different skill set. Each case requires that you listen to the parties who are in front of you and try and to fashion a relief that is going to help in that individual case.

DCM: I understand you had a full and challenging day yesterday. It (January 19th) was your first day?

JLC: I actually sat in juvenile court before I went to Judge�s School for one day, so yesterday was officially my second day. It was also juvenile. We had delinquency hearings and some were by video conferencing and some the delinquents were present. It was a long day. Some of that is because some of the children are being detained in the detention center, so they need to bring them into court, and that takes some time for the sheriffs to do that. Some of it just depends on the case and what�s involved, and to make sure that the recommendations from the probation department are going to help this child. That it�s fashioned in a way that moves this child along the system so that they can be returned home and be functioning without court supervision.

DCM: With 30 years experience, a couple days� experience on the bench proper, what do you see as the future of Delaware County from the judge�s bench?

JLC: We have a great bench. I don�t think we have the backlog they have in Philadelphia even as we�ve had a tremendous increase in our criminal cases and juvenile cases over the years. (In Delaware County) when you file a civil matter, you�re given a trial date, I think it�s within a year. When you file a support petition, you�re immediately put on a court list. I think custody is about three weeks before you get in front of a master. We have very short time periods before you�re heard in front of somebody. I think we�re very good at making sure people get prompt resolutions to their personal situation.

Budget-wise, having sat on the other side of the aisle, so to speak, we�re constantly asking the court to do more with less. Same as on the government side. There are certain things they can�t control. They can�t control how many people go to prison, how many go to the juvenile detention center. We need to have enough domestic relations personnel to process the work that needs to be done, to get support to children. But they do look at creative ways to help individuals, maybe keep them out of jail. We do a lot with the video conferencing so we don�t have to bring defendants into the courtroom for short periods of time. Our court is very proactive with that, very proactive with electronic home monitoring for nonviolent offenders, which is cheaper than having them in the prison system. So our court has always been very proactive and very willing to discuss with county government any area where we can stretch the taxpayers� dollar. We�re committed to making sure that people are safe in their homes and that justice is done. There has been no compromise in that area.

Having said that, the bench has always been very willing to discuss possible ways to improve the system, to benefit the victim, the defendant in criminal matters, and the parties in civil matters or in family law, to make sure that we do things in a better way. And I think that will continue. We�ve got a great system where the senior judges are very helpful and very generous in their time to new judges, speaking as a new judge. One of the things I saw when I was at New Judges School, talking with some other judges from other counties, was one saying no other judge had contacted her to ask if she needed help, to give her any advice, to assist her in setting up her office and how to do things. And it was really amazing because I�ve received an overwhelming amount of support from our bench, from all divisions, willing to help or assist or if I have any questions or just stopping in and saying �how�s it going?� It really shows how Delaware County is so proactive and so willing to sit down and discuss any issue that needs to be discussed to improve the court system.