Litigation

Editorial: Electing PA Judges is ?Dubious Big Business?

By Peter Hardin

A powerful legislator is bottling up a bill to let Pennsylvania voters weigh adopting merit selection for appellate judges, under circumstances that a leading state newspaper has condemned.

A Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial sharply criticizes State Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone, a Democrat and House Judiciary Committee chairman, for saying he has no plans to move legislation that would let voters choose to scrap contested elections for appellate judges.

Not only does the editorial question the quality of some judges who take the bench through elections, but it also labels the elections a “dubious big business:”

“Everybody knows that in this state political hacks and others who have nothing to recommend them but a familiar name can easily become judges in the lottery of a judicial election.

“People also know that electing judges has become dubious big business — last year $4.7 million was spent on the state Supreme Court race and now Sen. Jane Orie, the sister of the successful candidate, Joan Orie Melvin, stands accused of politicking on state time. If merit selection had been in place, neither the cost nor the controversy would have occurred.”

Moreover, voters would not be cut out of the process if Pennsylvania adopted a merit selection plan that uses a screening panel to recommend judicial candidates to the governor, the editorial says. Citizens would belong to the 14-member panel. Once a judge has taken the bench, voters would decide in up-or-down “retention” elections whether to keep the judge there.

The editorial concludes with a double-barreled blast at Caltagirone and Democratic House leaders who allow him his way:

“The status quo exercises its powers to turn back another threat to the status quo — and the public be damned.”

To learn more about the debate in Pennsylvania over merit selection, check out Gavel Grab, and to read about merit selection, visit Justice at Stake’s issues page on the topic.

Full post as published by The Gavel on June 17, 2010 (boomark / email).