For 12-27-92 
Boycott Baseball? Ok, Fine -- But You Go First 
It Doesn't Seem So Long Ago That Kirby Puckett Created A Fuss By Becoming The 
First Baseball Player To Collect A $3 Million Salary.

What About 
Those Raises?

Monday, December 21, 1992 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 





DEC. 20 ,1992 CORBETT COLUMN PAGE 3A &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Order in the court? &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; hen we last left our esteemed state Supreme Court, one justice was accusing
another justice of trying to run him down with a car he had "commandeered" in &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 PhiladelphiaCall it drive-by jurisprudence. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Justice-jacking. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Or just plain nuts. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Label it whatever you like -- just understand that we're talking the
Supreme Court here. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 These are powerful men who earn large salaries interpreting state law. In
most cases, they're the final authority. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It's really not too much to ask that they be stable. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But madness brewed among them for years. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Pinpointing the root of this evil is tough, although it clearly blossomed
when some of the other justices decided to shear the black sheep of the
Commonwealth's black-robed family. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Before you knew it, justices Stephen Zapalla and Ralph Cappy had voted to
reprimand Justice Rolf Larsen for talking about a case he wasn't supposed to
talk about. In turn, Larsen accused Zapella and Cappy of being "fix artists"
who took care of their friends and had more in common with bagmen than with
Supreme Court judges. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In the past, Larsen had been accused of other improprieties -- calling
Chief Justice Robert Nix a nigger, for example -- but he vehemently denied
such antics. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Zapalla and Cappy, however, hadn't ever been accused of anything seamier
than being lawyers. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Suddenly Larsen turned up the temperature. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 His latest charge allegedly occurred Dec. 7, the first day the court met
since Larsen accused his brother justices of everything from illegal
wiretapping to conspiring to keep him from being promoted to chief justice. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Meanwhile, crime continued to bite into the soul of Pennylvania, a place
whose top judges run around like a couple of mooks slapping themselves in the
head and refusing to answer questions like they're bit actors in the new
gangster movie, "GoofFellas." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Running amok, our supreme leaders have taken the sanctity of law lower than
a grub worm's hiney. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 t issue here is the very same problem that occurs each day in courtrooms
across the land. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Somebody's lying. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Only this time, it's a state Supreme Court judge. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Which judge is the $64,000 question. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 So far, though, nobody has treated this fiasco the way it should be
treated. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 This fiasco is a simple police investigation. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 It doesn't take two special prosecutors, state Atorney General Ernie Preate
(who appeared as a character witness for Larsen during his reprimand hearing,
by the way) and a super grand jury to figure it out. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Oh sure, we should take all the help we can get to sort through the charges
and counter charges. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But once the most recent Larsen charge is remedied, the court will soon
return to normal. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Justice Larsen has essentially accused Justice Zapella of trying to kill
him. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In court papers filed last week, by describing the alleged crime in vague,
non-specific and less than professional terms, Larsen raised more questions
than he answered. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That's not good enough. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 That's why a couple of good old-fashioned Philadelphia detectives ought to
be able to solve this caper in 24 hours. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sit Larsen down and take his statement. Hit the street and interview
witnesses, take their statements, talk to Zapella and, if enough evidence
surfaces, cuff him and toss him and his gavel into the men's house of
detention. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Blackjack him if he resists. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 No bail, either. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 On the other hand, if Larsen's charge proves meritless, hang him and his
robe in the closest psychiatric unit. Give him a labotomy if he resists. And
keep him there as a danger to others. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Either Zapella or Larsen is fibbing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In order for sanity to return to the bench, one of them has to go. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 If not, disorder rules the court. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Steve Corbett's column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.

Dec. 20 ,1992 Corbett Column Page 3a 
Order In 
The Court? 
Hen We Last Left Our Esteemed State Supreme Court, One Justice Was Accusing 
Another Justice Of Trying To Run Him Down With A Car He Had "commandeered" In 
Philadelphia.

Dec. 20 ,1992 Corbett Column Page 3a Order In The Court? Hen We Last Left Our Esteemed State Supreme Court, One Justice Was Accusing Another Justice Of Trying To Run Him Down With A Car He Had "commandeered" In Philadelphia.