Activism already a factor in races for Pa. high court

: Source, Nov. 26, 2006, By Emilie Lounsberry, Inquirer Staff Writer 
Russell Nigro is wrestling with a dilemma: Should he try to win back a
seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court after being ousted in a wave of voter
anger last year? Or should he skip the political drama and stick with his
growing court-mediation business?
Nigro, a former Philadelphia trial judge, is weighing a variety of factors -
whether the legal community would support him, how to raise money for
another costly statewide campaign, and even what to do about bloggers who,
he fears, might spread misinformation about him.
"It's something I've really got to think through. It's a very, very hard
decision for me," said Nigro, 60, a Democrat who was defeated as part of the
backlash over the 2005 legislative pay raise.
While the dust has barely settled from this month's contentious midterm
elections, the political landscape already is being shaped for next year's
statewide judicial races - in which two seats on the state's highest court
will be up for grabs, and one justice, Thomas Saylor, will be up for
retention.
The races are expected to be closely watched to see whether the same
grassroots activism that cost Nigro his job will be a factor in the
yes-or-no retention of Saylor, or in the battle for the two open seats. And
the results will have a big impact on the seven-member court, where
Republicans hold four of seven seats.
"I'm going to do my best to make it an interesting year," said Tim Potts,
cofounder of Democracy Rising PA, a citizens group working to improve
integrity in state government.
Potts said the coming year would present a unique opportunity for [[court
reform]] - mostly at the state Supreme Court, which has long been regarded as
more involved in politics than many public-policy experts would like.
"People are going to see the opportunity to make some real change," Potts
said.
Lynn Marks, executive director of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, said she
hoped the race got people talking about the role of good judges, as opposed
to ballot position, special-interest money, and backroom politics.
"The campaign is likely to be very expensive, nasty, and not particularly
illuminating about how the candidates would perform as judges," Marks said.
Even so, across Pennsylvania, at least eight other judges and lawyers are -
like Nigro - pondering whether to run.
"I'm looking at the possibility," said Judge Maureen Lally-Green, a
Republican from Western Pennsylvania who is one of five state Superior Court
judges considering a run.
"There's a very strong likelihood that I will," said Common Pleas Court
Judge John M. Younge, a Democrat and one of three Philadelphia trial court
judges with an eye on running for the appellate court.
The jobs are among the best in the legal profession. Justices are paid about
$171,800 per year and serve 10-year terms on the court, which has final say
over civil and criminal appeals in the state legal system and administers
the sprawling judicial system.
The vacancies are due to Nigro's defeat, and Justice Sandra Schultz Newman's
announcement this month that she intends to step down by the end of the year
to join the Philadelphia law firm Cozen O'Connor.
Gov. Rendell is expected to appoint someone to fill Newman's seat until
after the November election. Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge James J.
Fitzgerald III and Commonwealth Court President Judge James G. Colins are
among those the governor is said to be considering.
Bruce Ledewitz, a law professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh who has
been a longtime critic of the court's, said he hoped to focus on the need
for meaningful change at the nation's oldest appellate court.
The court, once a nationally respected institution, has lost its luster and
is not known for any special legal expertise, he said. "I can't think of a
single area in which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is looked to nationally
on any issue," he said.
Ledewitz said he would travel the state when the League of Women Voters
sponsored a court-reform tour in the spring based on his 15-point "[[Platform
for Reform of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court]]."
The platform calls for barring private meetings between justices and
legislators and getting the court to be more open about committee
appointments and administration of the court system.
But as veterans of judicial elections know, it's tough to get the public
focused on who will be a good judge. But then came the flap about the July
2005 pay raises for lawmakers, judges and others.
The raises triggered a storm of grassroots activism that led to the defeat
of nearly two dozen legislators and Nigro, who had been seeking another
10-year term. Voters were angered by Justice Ralph Cappy's outspoken support
for the pay raise and previous court rulings that allowed lawmakers to
accept midterm pay raises - contrary to the state's constitution.
The high court's recent ruling on the pay hikes put the issue back in the
spotlight. The court ruled that the legislature had violated the state
constitution by allowing lawmakers to take the raises at midterm, but the
court then reinstated the judiciary raises that the legislature had
repealed.
"In the past, there's been little interest in judicial elections," Marks
said. "But now, with blogs and the Internet and the pay-raise decision, I
suspect it's going to be much more interesting."
Nigro said he had learned the hard way about the impact of incorrect
information that found its way into cyberspace.
After his defeat, he said, one of his law clerks told him that a family
member had voted against Nigro because she had read on the Internet that
Nigro had approved the pay raise. In fact, the pay-raise case had not even
reached his court at that time - and Nigro was long gone by the time it did.
Nigro said he wondered how to deal with that. "You can't stop people from
sending [an e-mail] message," he said. But that's just one of the issues
that Nigro will mull into the new year. "There's a lot of nuances to next
year's race," he said.
===Possible Candidates for 2007 PA Courts===
====From Pennsylvania Superior Court:====
* Maureen Lally-Green
* Seamus P. McCaffery
* Debra M. Todd
* Mary Jane Bowes
* Joan Orie Melvin
====From Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas:====
* C. Darnell Jones II
* Paul P. Panepinto
* John M. Younge
==Links==
* Judges
category:news coverage