The PA Supreme Court Race Is Every Bit As Important as the One In Wisconsin
- This is not your typical judicial retention election, where we can blithely say that judges are almost always retained, so no big deal.
- The Rs have mounted a very aggressive campaign to turn out MAGA to vote NO, and everything is on the line in PA in this election.
- If we don’t keep these 3 Supreme Court seats, I don’t want it to be because we didn’t try hard enough, or because we didn’t realize what the consequences of a loss would be.
So I want to share some important information, courtesy of RevRick.
The Pennsylvania Judiciary is composed of three appellate courts, the Commonwealth Court, the Superior Court, and the Supreme Court, plus the Court of Common Pleas, which are the trial courts in the Commonwealth, and Magistrate courts. The Supreme Court is the court of final appeal and is composed of seven justices. Its rulings are binding as law in the Commonwealth.
Judicial elections occur in odd-number years for the three appellate courts and the Court of Common Pleas and are for ten year terms. In case of vacancies, the Governor may appoint a justice, subject to confirmation by the Senate. Judges may run for an unlimited number of ten-year terms, subject to a mandatory retirement age of 75. After the initial competitive election, judges may run for reelection by a “yes” or “no” vote.
Pennsylvania has experienced the disastrous consequences of elections in adverse circumstances.
In 2010, the Republicans achieved complete control of the governorship, the legislature, and the Supreme Court. With this control, the GOP was able to make brutally gerrymandered legislative and Congressional districts and pass all sorts of laws undermining rights and public education. And with the Supreme Court in their partisan favor, they were assured that their handiwork would not be undone.
In 2015, thanks to retirements creating vacancies, the Democrats were able to gain control of the Supreme Court. The three justices elected that year will be up for retention. These three justices control the balance of power on the Supreme Court.
If they win, the Democrats will likely retain control of the court well into the 2030s.
I suspect that the corollary is true: If the Rs win, it seems likely that they will retain control of the court until well into the 2030s.
Reminder: the good folks at The Civics Center found us a $5k external match for any donation of any amount – if we reach our goal.
As soon as we hit our goal for the final $5k, the external donor will match it.
WaterGirl
Crossing my fingers, hoping that this can be my last post for this fundraising effort!
bbleh
Ok in for $50. Need to do some ground work here too …
H.E.Wolf
“Justice, justice shall you pursue.”
Working towards justice in this small, under-the-radar, concrete way is an act of leadership on all our parts.
Thank you to WaterGirl and The Civics Center and every donor in the final 5K… and to all the PA high school students who will become more politically involved because of our fundraising.
TomB5
One correction. It was 2015 that the 3 Democrats were elected to a 10 year term hence the retention election in 2025.
tobie
Chipped on $50. This will be a tough race. I’ll try to do some volunteer work for it.
WaterGirl
@TomB5: I wondered about the dates and 10 years. :-) Fixed.
WaterGirl
I think there’s been less enthusiasm for this one since there’s not an awesome Janet P. that we all know about and we’re not already invested in the PA Supreme Court in the way that we are in Wisconsin.
Dmkingto
In for another $100
Wapiti
In for $100.
Embra
I did another $100, too. Thanks, all.
kindness
Kicked in a little. We do what we can.
Kathy
In for $50- Thanks for doing this!
WaterGirl
Just $3,000 to go!Just $2,999 to go!
Alice
In for $25.
Ann Marie
I just added $100.
lowtechcyclist
Just contributed $86.12. Couldn’t resist getting cute with the numbers.
ETA: Anyone should feel free to destroy my nice numerical pattern by contributing more money.
Gloria DryGarden
Very cool number in the thermometer. $21,212.12
eye catching. $3,788 to go
lowtechcyclist
@Gloria DryGarden:
And even better, it was quickly superseded!
Coyoteville
Just donated $55
TomB5
@WaterGirl: thanks. The same people who helped in 2015 are motivated now. Everything the juicers do now will really help. What this community is doing is amazing.
BellyCat
SEMI-CORRECTION:
No judge may serve as a Senior Judge beyond midnight of December 31st of the year they turn *78* .
There are SIGNIFICANT structural problems with the Unified Judicial System in Pa (claimed “the oldest appellate court system in the U.S.”, which was unified in, I believe, 1968). That said, meaningful reform is far less likely if the current composition is flipped.
(This statement is provided with significant holding of one’s nose.)
WaterGirl
@lowtechcyclist: You were one of the two people I suspected might have gotten us to the particular number.