Court Opinion

ID: 9731351
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 15:43:00.974736+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:26:17.163462
License: Public Domain

PAPADAKOS, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority view that Respondent is not subject to removal from judicial office because he was not “convicted of misbehavior in office” so as to require automatic forfeiture of office pursuant to Article V, Section 18(l), of the Constitution of Pennsylvania. I agree that automatic forfeiture is not called for here, but Respondent’s voluntary resignation from office is not a quid pro quo for avoiding the imposition of removal from judicial office and the attendant forfeiture of the right ever again to run for judicial office.
I believe the present record before us is more than adequate to support our removal from office of the Respondent and we should do so. As matters stand now, the Respondent is free to run for judicial office again in spite of his convictions.