judgesonmerit.org

Recently, an AP article looked at various positions at stake in Tuesday’s primary election, making note of difference in candidates, issues, endorsements, and money that has been raised. Sadly, political issues are playing an ever growing role in judicial elections. An article in the Philadelphia Inquirer explains that this is due in part to a 2002 U.S. Supreme Court decision that relaxed restrictions on what judicial candidates can talk about.

The change in these restrictions is apparent from judicial candidate Paul Panepinto’s campaign website, which announces that he is Roman Catholic and “pro life.” Panepinto, currently a Philadelphia Common Pleas judge, is running for an open seat on the Commonwealth Court. PMC’s executive director Lynn Marks explains that the statement “does not cross the line of what a candidate can and can’t do, but it does send a message.”

Issue voting is a problem in judicial elections because it makes our choice in judges too similar to how we choose politicians. The judiciary is different from the other branches of government, and the way we choose judges should likewise be different. Pennsylvania deserves a fair and impartial judiciary with judges selected based on their qualifications and experience. Judicial elections allow money and politics to play too great a role in the process. It’s time to get judges out of the business of campaigning, and Merit Selection is the best way to accomplish that.

At a February 12th meeting in Harrisburg, Republican State Committee members endorsed candidates for open seats on two statewide appellate court.  Bucks County lawyer Anne Covey was the GOP committee’s choice for an opening on the Commonwealth Court; former Cumberland County Republican Committee Chairman Vic Stabile received an endorsement for a seat on the Superior Court. Both candidates were rated as “Recommended” by the Judicial Evaluation Commission of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

Philadelphia County Judges Paula Patrick and Paul Panepinto were also nominated for the open Superior Court seat, but neither candidate was able to garner enough support to win the party endorsement. Both judges indicated that they planned to stay on the ballot.

Current Judge Johnny Butler, who was appointed to the Commonwealth Court by Governor Ed Rendell, has told party leaders that he won’t run in the primary.

The endorsements came a week after the Democratic State Committee announced its judicial endorsements.

Following the May primary elections, Superior Court Judge Maureen Lally-Green announced her retirement and created a fourth vacancy to be filled during the fall general election.  The Republican and Democratic parties are poised to meet later this month to select candidates to join their existing slates.

The Legal Intelligencer (subscription required) reports that there are nine contenders, several of whom are sitting judges.  On the Republican side, Chester County Common Pleas President Judge Paula Ott, Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Paul Panepinto, Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge Arthur Tilson, Monroe County Common Pleas Judge  Margherita Worthington, and Westmoreland County attorney Harry Smail, Jr. are seeking the nomination.  On the Democratic side, Philadelphia Common Pleas Judges James Murray Lynn, Paula Patrick and  M. Teresa Sarmina and Washington County President Judge Debbie O’Dell-Seneca are seeking the nomination.

Pennsylvania has a busy election season shaping up.  Voters will be filling one vacancy on the Supreme Court, four on the Superior Court and two on the Commonwealth Court.  Learn more about the upcoming elections on PMC’s current election page.