Litigation

PA Election Scandal: A Case for Reform?

By Peter Hardin

A  scandal that allegedly involves two sisters of a newly elected Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice not only is troubling, but it’s an important example of some of the deep-seated problems with judicial elections, a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial suggests.

Recently the sisters of Justice Joan Orie Melvin?including one who is a powerful state senator?were charged with using staff on the public payroll to help aid her election campaign last year (see Gavel Grab).

“Confidence has been lost,” declares the editorial headline. Justice Orie Melvin can hardly rule now on cases brought by the Alleghany County District Attorney’s office, which charged her sisters. And sister Janine Orie, an aide to the justice, has been suspended with pay. The justice campaigned on a pledge to “restore people’s confidence in the courts,” the editorial says, and her backers surely must be disappointed.

But the editorial goes further to question the election system that led to scandal:

“Of course, the Orie clan’s troubles are a reminder that neither the justice, her relatives, nor the state court system would be facing this scandal if Pennsylvanians did not elect their top judges.”

State legislators will have a chance to pass a measure to replace the election of appellate judges with a merit-based appointment system. In states where some or all judges are appointed, the result is greater diversity on the bench and less political controversy, “which can erode public confidence,” the editorial states.

The editorial concludes by signaling strong interest in reform:

“During Orie Melvin’s campaign for the high court last year, she talked of restoring public confidence with ‘openness, transparency, and accountability.’ No matter how the court case involving the Orie sisters plays out, Pennsylvanians would have more faith in their judiciary without legal scandals and campaign-donor conflicts arising from judicial elections.”

Full post as published by The Gavel on April 15, 2010 (boomark / email).