Posts in 'merit selection'

Pennsylvania Judicial Center

Former Pa. Supreme Court chief justice: It’s time to change how judges get their jobs | Opinion

Friday, January 29, 2021
By RONALD CASTILLE and ROBERT C. HEIM The Philadelphia Inquirer Our Pennsylvania legislature appears poised to turn a bad idea — electing appellate judges — into an even worse idea — making appellate judge elections regional, instead of statewide. Earlier this week, the Pennsylvania House Judiciary...

In lawsuit, Democratic lawmakers argue judicial selection changes are unconstitutional

Thursday, July 11, 2019
DES MOINES, Iowa — A group of Democratic lawmakers and attorneys are suing over recent changes by Republicans to the judicial selection process in Iowa, asking a Polk County Judge on Monday to put a temporary block on the law until the case---which alleges the changes violate the state Constitution-...

PMC in the News: Your View: How bill would put an end to independent judiciary in PA

Thursday, June 6, 2019
The Morning Call By Maida Milone Pennsylvania is teetering on the brink of losing its independent appellate judiciary. Legislation that would ask voters to agree to Balkanize how our justices and judges are selected for Pennsylvania’s three statewide appellate courts is advancing though the General...

PMC in the News: Oppose bill that would af­fect ju­di­cial elec­tions

Thursday, May 16, 2019
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pennsylvania is teetering on the brink of losing its independent appellate judiciary. Legislation that would ask voters to agree to balkanize how our justices and judges are selected for Pennsylvania’s three statewide appellate courts is advancing though the General Assembly...
Zane Podsobinki, winner of PMC's Law Student Writing Competition, with PMC's President & CEO and Judge Lally-Green, Dean of Duquesne Law

Partisan Lobbying, Mass Incarceration, and Gerrymandering: Should Judicial Elections be Abolished?

Around the world, the idea that a judge could be elected seems rather perplexing. Typically, most nations utilize an appointment system that is akin to the procedures used in selecting federal judges in the United States.
Fordham Urban Law Journal - A View from the Ground: A Reform Group's Perspective on the Ongoing Effort to Achieve Merit Seleciton of Judges

A View From the Ground: A Reform Group's Perspective on the Ongoing Effort to Achieve Merit Selection of Judges

This article, published in the Fordham Urban Law Journal in 2006, describes the history of judicial selection in the state of Pennsylvania. It describes the judicial selection reform movement and growth of the organization Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, which devises solutions to meet the various

Cover of the Report of the Governor's Judicial Reform Commission

Report of the Governor's Judicial Reform Commission (January 1988)

PMC's founders were motivated to create a new organization following this report from the Pennsylvania Judicial Reform Commission.

Governor Robert Casey commissioned this blue-ribbon panel of civic leaders, public officials, legal professionals, and members of the judiciary. PMC Board member, and