'Giant of the law:' Late Chief Justice Eagen added to Distinguished Citizens Memorial

May 19—SCRANTON — A monument honoring esteemed citizens of Lackawanna County now includes one of the most revered and accomplished jurists in county history.

Family, friends and officials gathered Friday on the Biden Street side of Courthouse Square to celebrate late state Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael J. Eagen's addition to the Distinguished Citizens Memorial of Lackawanna County, which now bears his name and bronze likeness.

Extolling the virtues of the late chief justice, speakers described him as an intellectual giant of the court deeply respected for his empathy, ethics, jurisprudence, judicial temperament and dedication to the legal profession.

Born in Jermyn in 1907, Eagen was 26 in 1933 when he won election as the youngest district attorney in county history, a surprise victory for the Democrat that ended years of Republican rule in the county. He later won election to the Common Pleas Court bench at age 34 and served as a county judge until his election to a 21-year term on the state Supreme Court in 1959, taking office in 1960.

Eagen became the 38th chief justice of the court in 1977 and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1980, transforming the state's antiquated appellate court system during that tenure. He was 80 when he passed away at his Hill Section home July 7, 1987.

Upon his death, newspaper reports credited Eagen with streamlining Pennsylvania's appellate courts, with one describing him as a "legal moderate with a sound grasp of the law who sought court reform through the political system."

Many of Friday's speakers lauded his influence and character.

Lackawanna Bar Association President John C. Mascelli, who clerked for Eagen during his time on the state Supreme Court, said the justice embodied Socrates' four essential qualities of a good judge: "to hear courteously, to answer wisely, to consider soberly and to decide impartially."

"Justice Eagen met all the elements and then some, because he also had compassion and an incomparable judicial temperament," Mascelli said. "Besides changing the structure of the Pennsylvania appellate judiciary, gracing the bench with his judicial demeanor and writing significant appellate opinions, Justice Eagen was also stalwart when it came to ethics."

Eagen joins other eminent honorees immortalized on the Distinguished Citizens Memorial, including the late Gov. Robert P. Casey, late U.S. Rep. Joseph M. McDade, late governor and U.N. Ambassador William Warren Scranton and late state Rep. Marion L. Munley, the first woman to represent Lackawanna County in the General Assembly.

With Eagen's addition, the state's legislative, executive and judicial branches are now all represented on the monument, county President Judge Trish Corbett noted.

She was among those who reflected Friday on Eagen's legacy and impact, as was Dr. Jeremiah Eagen, the late justice's son who served as master of ceremonies.

"My father had a noble mission as chief justice ... to improve the administration of justice in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a significant, substantive and transformative way," he said. "And I think, based on the remarks of our distinguished speakers here today, my father achieved that mission."

Contact the writer: jhorvath@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9141; @jhorvathTT on Twitter.