Opinion ID: 2549762
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Composition of the Court of Judicial Discipline

Text: Appellant challenges the composition of the Court of Judicial Discipline. She claims Judge Sprague was constitutionally ineligible to serve on the court because of his age. She notes the Pennsylvania Constitution requires mandatory retirement for the judiciary at the age of 70. See Pa. Const. art. V, § 16(b) (Justices, judges and justices of the peace shall be retired on the last day of the calendar year in which they attain the age of 70 years.). As the Court of Judicial Discipline was established as part of the Constitution's judiciary article, and because Pennsylvania has a unified judiciary, appellant argues this constitutional restriction should apply to the court. Because Judge Sprague exceeded the age of 70, she reasons he was ineligible to sit on the court. Appellant also claims Judges Musmanno and Bucci's service as Board members, during the early stages of its investigation of her, precluded them from judging her case on the Court of Judicial Discipline. See Lyness v. Commonwealth, State Board of Medicine, 529 Pa. 535, 605 A.2d 1204, 1209 (1992) (finding if administrative agency performs both prosecutorial and judicial functions, due process requires those functions be separated). The Board claims appellant waived these arguments because she did not raise them until after her trial, when she included them in the final paragraph of her Objections to the Board's Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. Further, as the Constitution refers to the composition of the court as members, the Board argues the retirement age for judges does not apply to the Court of Judicial Discipline. The Board also contends Judges Musmanno and Bucci were not disqualified from deciding appellant's case because neither of them participated in the Board's review of her case or its decision to file charges against her. [A] party seeking recusal or disqualification [is required] to raise the objection at the earliest possible moment, or that party will suffer the consequence of being time barred. Goodheart v. Casey, 523 Pa. 188, 565 A.2d 757, 763 (1989) (citing Reilly by Reilly v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, 507 Pa. 204, 489 A.2d 1291, 1298 (1985)). Appellant did not mention Judge Sprague's age in her pre-trial recusal motions, nor did she move to disqualify Judges Musmanno or Bucci before or during trial. She provides no reason for not raising either of these issues sooner. Because appellant failed to raise these issues at the earliest possible opportunity, they are waived.