judgesonmerit.org

Governor Ed Rendell, former governors Tom Ridge, Richard Thornburgh and Mark Schweiker, Senator Jane Earll, and Representative Matt Smith were joined in Harrisburg today by PMC, PMCAction, Justice At Stake and the Committee for Economic Development to unveil a poll that shows an overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanians – 93 percent – want the opportunity to vote on whether the state should change the way we select appellate court judges.  Joining this bipartisan group of leaders calling for reform were representatives of many groups that comprise the Pennsylvania Merit Selection coalition, including the League of Women Voters of PA, Common Cause, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, the Philadelphia Council of Clergy, the Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity, the ACLU, the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Central PA, and the Pennsylvania Business Council.

The poll — conducted for PMC, PMCAction, Justice At Stake, Committee for Economic Development and the American Judicature Society — gauged Pennsylvanians’ obvious frustration with the judicial system: 53 percent of respondents believe the electoral system is broken, 73 percent  say the most qualified candidates do not win judicial elections, and 76 percent believe campaign contributions influence judicial decision-making.

The press conference showcased the wide breadth of the bipartisan coalition pushing for the change. Here are a few thoughts from some of the speakers.

Lynn A. Marks, Executive Director of PMC and PMCAction said:

The fact that 93 percent of Pennsylvanians want the chance to decide the best way to select their state’s appellate court judges is a resounding call for the legislature to take the first steps to bring this issue to the people.

Governor Ed Rendell said:

Merit selection is a bipartisan issue, and a long overdue reform. There are many reasons why Pennsylvania needs to make this change, and the bottom line is that if we embrace merit selection, we will get the most qualified, fair and impartial judges to serve our residents.

In a statement, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said:

Right now, Pennsylvanians are being shortchanged by the way their judges are chosen. Judges running for election have to raise campaign contributions from individuals and organizations that appear before them in court. In fact, the average cost to run for a state Supreme Court seat is staggering – reaching into the millions of dollars. I applaud Pennsylvania’s current effort to change its system to protect the impartiality of the judiciary without sacrificing accountability to its voters.

Our press release about the  poll and the press conference is available here. The Pennsylvania Cable Network will be replaying the press conference several times — a schedule is available here.

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