Sen. Ryan Aument (R-36) announced Monday his plan to reintroduce legislation guaranteeing a reform of the election of appellate judges that would more accurately reflect the diversity of Pennsylvania and the uniqueness of its regions.
“The rich diversity of our Commonwealth should be reflected in the makeup of our appellate courts,” Aument said. “Unfortunately, that simply is not the case given that our appellate court judges are elected statewide, giving some areas of the state a disproportionate and unfair electoral advantage.”
Specifically, the legislation would require approval of statewide voters, would divide Pennsylvania into nine Commonwealth Court districts, fifteen Superior Court districts, and seven Supreme Court districts. The bill would also require candidates for appellate seats to reside in the district they would represent on the court.
In a cursory review of Pennsylvania’s Superior Court and Commonwealth Court judge compliment in 2018, when the proposal for the legislation was initially developed, Aument said that only 15 of the state’s 67 counties were home to a Pennsylvania appellate court judge.
The judicial districts would be drawn following the redistricting principles found in the Pennsylvania Constitution, requiring populations as equal as possible in each district with compact and contiguous geographic boundaries. It would also be consistent with any future Constitutional amendments to reform redistricting, such as the effort to establish an independent redistricting commission in Senate Bill 22, introduced last year by Sen. Lisa Boscola (D-18).
The need to reintroduce this legislation, Aument said, was highlighted by the recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court opinion on House Resolution 836, in which the Court denied the General Assembly’s power to overturn Gov. Tom Wolf’s emergency disaster declaration. Aument supported the passage of H.R. 836 in the Senate.
“I am not arguing that Pennsylvania’s statewide judges and justices should be swayed by or beholden to the court of public opinion when deciding cases, but rather that the process we use before those candidates are selected to serve in the courts ought to be reformed to ensure that all residents of Pennsylvania are represented fairly on the bench,” Aument said. “The judicial branch must certainly operate independently of public opinion; however, it is inappropriate to permit statewide judges and justices to be chosen in a way that results in disproportionate representation.”
The House companion to Aument’s legislation, House Bill 196, sponsored by Rep. Russ Diamond (R-102), passed the House in December 2019 and is currently awaiting consideration in the Senate State Government Committee.
“My goal is simple – fairness,” said Aument. “According to recent precedent set by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the opportunity to represent the people of Pennsylvania should be fair. In keeping with that laudable goal, this proposal further enshrines that principle into our Constitution so that we would no longer have disproportionate representation on the appellate judicial bench.”