Six Pennsylvania governors have teamed up on behalf of an important reform for the state. How often these days do Democrats and Republicans join forces on anything?
Gov. Tom Wolf and former governors Tom Ridge, Ed Rendell, Mark Schweiker, Tom Ridge and Dick Thornburgh are all behind a plan to improve how Pennsylvania chooses appellate court judges.
Although voters now elect candidates to fill the openings on the Commonwealth, Superior and Supreme courts, history has revealed problems with the method. Judicial candidates running statewide raise hundreds of thousands — and sometimes millions — of dollars, which can leave them beholden to lawyers who come before them. Also, many voters don’t understand what the appellate courts do, which can lead them to elect judges based on factors such as geography or ethnicity.
Under House Bill 1336, the plan supported by the governors, county-based Common Pleas Court judges would still be elected, but appellate judges would be seated through a combination of merit appointment and nonpartisan retention election.
The process would begin with a 13-member bipartisan nominating commission; five members would be chosen by the governor, with all from different counties and no more than three from one political party. The other eight, only half of whom could be lawyers, would be named by legislative leaders.
After reviewing judicial applicants’ qualifications, the commission would send a short list of potential nominees to the governor, who then would submit one to the Senate. If confirmed, the new judge would get a four-year term, then be able to stand in a retention election for subsequent 10-year terms.
That’s a more sensible system than Pennsylvania’s Election Day roulette. While it wouldn’t remove all politics from the process, it has enough checks and balances to bring more merit to the selection.
The reform would require a state constitutional amendment, meaning approval by the House and Senate in two consecutive legislative sessions and then an OK from voters.
Last Monday another key leader, House Speaker Mike Turzai, gave his support to the bill, which has already been approved by the House Judiciary Committee. Democrats and Republicans alike should get behind this reform and march it down the road to enactment.
First Published: March 6, 2016, 5:00 a.m.
