All rise! As you have likely heard, Pennsylvania will hold judicial elections this year. And with vacancies on the Supreme Court, the Superior Court and the Commonwealth Court, this could turn out to be an interesting year indeed.
Pennsylvania has a unique process for electing its judges. First of all, it is the only state in the nation to hold judicial elections solely in odd-numbered years. Judicial candidates run for their first time on a partisan ballot for a term of either six or 10 years, depending on the particular bench. Once elected, judges run for a retention term. In partisan elections, the question to the voters is who should be judge; in retention elections, it’s a yes or no question as to whether or not that judge should keep his or her seat on the bench. Finally, judges aren’t term-limited, but unlike any other elected official, a constitutional mandate requires that Pennsylvania’s judges must retire by the age of 70. However there has been an effort the last few years in the General Assembly to amend the constitution to bump the retirement age to 75. Read about it here: http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/billinfo/billinfo.cfm?syear=2015&sind=0&body=H&type=B&bn=90
Let’s start at the top. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is made up of seven justices, and for the first time in over 300 years, there are three open seats this year. They are due to the retirement of Chief Justice Ronald Castille last year, the resignation of Justice Joan Orie Melvin after her conviction for campaign corruption, and the resignation of Justice Seamus McCaffery amid an FBI investigation involving inappropriate referral fees. The Orie Melvin seat has been held by Correale Stevens, who was appointed to the bench in 2013 to replace her; however since he was appointed, he must now run for his seat in his first partisan election.
The Superior Court, one of the Commonwealth’s intermediate appellate courts, has 15 judges. This year, there is a vacancy on the Superior Court due to the appointment of Judge Correale Stevens to the Supreme Court.
The Commonwealth Court is comprised of nine judges and hears cases in which the Commonwealth, a regulatory agency or a local government is a party. There will be a vacancy on the Commonwealth Court due to the retirement of Judge Dan Pelligirini.
In addition to the statewide races, there are also common pleas judges races in the following counties: Adams, Allegheny, Berks, Bradford, Cambria, Chester, Cumberland, Delaware, Erie, Franklin, Greene, Lawrence, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland Philadelphia, Somerset, Westmoreland, and York.
Check out the Department of State’s complete list of judicial candidates at: https://www.pavoterservices.state.pa.us/ElectionInfo/electioninfo.aspx
The primary election will be held on May 19. We’ll be able to let you know then who is squaring off for coveted positions on the bench come November. Until then, stay tuned to this blog and our Twitter feed for updates.