Judicial Districts and Judicial Independence
To: Legislators, legislative staff, editorial board members, columnists, other interested parties From: Marc Stier, Director, Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center Subject: Judicial Districts and Judicial Independence This week the Republican leadership of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives plan to take up an HB 196, a constitutional amendment proposed by Representative Russ Diamond to elect the appellate court judges who sit on the Supreme Court and the two second-level courts, the Commonwealth Court and Superior Court, by districts rather than in statewide elections. This proposal is similar to the Aument amendment to SB22, a redistricting reform proposal that passed the Senate but stalled in the House last year. HB 196 is deeply problematic for three reasons. First, given the role judges play in our constitutional government, district election is unnecessary. We elect legislators by district because it is important that regional interests be accounted for in the process of enacting legislation.… Continue reading