Sunday, October 05, 2003

Chief Justice Ralph Cappy has launched 13 initiatives he hopes to achieve with the help of his colleagues on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, other appellate court judges and D. Brooks Smith of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

1. Build a new judicial center at a cost of $123 million and consolidate administrative and court offices in the Harrisburg building.

2. Unify procedural rules.

3. Create a certification program to better prepare defense lawyers to represent defendants in death penalty cases.

4. Create a certification program for judges who preside over death penalty cases.

5. Restructure continuing legal education for judges.

6. Create a strategic plan for the state judiciary.

7. Review the issue of malpractice insurance for lawyers.

8. Review and find ways to implement the gender recommendations of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee on Racial and Gender Bias in the Justice System.

9. Review and find ways to implement the racial and ethnic bias recommendations of that report.

10. Make the judicial council, a 27-member advisory board to the court, a productive working body.

11. Improve security for court personnel, lawyers and the public.

12. Finish the computerization of the state court system.

13. Improve security for the court's computer system in case of a terrorist attack or a natural disaster.

E-mail this story   Print this story