On May 14, the state Senate voted “no” on the four nominees to fill vacancies on the state’s appellate courts: James Gardner Colins, James Fitzgerald, III, Robert Daniels and Ken Gormley.  This concludes this round of the so far rocky effort to place judges o

Bills to amend the constitution to implement a merit selection system for Pennsylvania's appellate courts have been introduced in  both houses of the state legislature.  The text of the proposed amendment and accompanying enabling legislation are available:

The Pennslvania Supreme Court, in a 4-0 vote (Chief Justice Castille and Justice McCaffery did not participate) has ordered Municipal Court Judge Deborah Griffin to be removed from the bench.  The order resolves a long ordeal involving multiple actions arising out of a conviction predating Griffin's attendance of law school and election to the Municipal Court.  The initial action, bro

Just in time for Juror Appreciation Day, Associate Director Shira Goodman explains in a Metro commentary why everyone should show up for jury duty.  Jury duty is a right and a privilege of citizenship, and our justice system continues to function only when responsible cit

www.courts.state.pa.us/Index/StateofJudiciary/stateofthecommscts2008.pdf

The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) has just
released an informative and entertaining video that explains how
Pennsylvania's various courts function, and how is important to our
justice system. More information and a link to the full video are
available on the AOPC's website.

President Judge C. Darnell Jones has announced that the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania has adopted a Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Pilot Program. The program is designed to address residential mortgage foreclosures, and to help homeowners in trouble find alternatives to foreclosure.

Manchester experiments with neighborhood-based justice system.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08084/867524-53.stm

Blair County invests in more efficient jury selection system.
http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/505786.html?nav=742
 
 

PMC and PMCAction are pleased to announce the launch of JudgesOnMerit.org, a new blog dedicated to tracking the progress of the effort to achieve a merit selection for Pennsylvania's appellate courts.