Public oversight of courts urged
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The Pennsylvania Supreme Court should be a transparent body whose internal rule-making and justices' actions are done in the open and under public scrutiny.
Those are just two of the suggestions offered by Duquesne University law professor Bruce Ledewitz in his platform for reform of the state's highest court.
He presented his four-prong approach for reform at a Continuing Legal Education seminar yesterday at the university.
A Pennsylvania constitutional scholar, Mr. Ledewitz believes the time for reform is now.
Last year, Justice Russell Nigro failed to win retention, and Justice Sandra Newman barely held on as voters angry over pay raises for state legislators and other elected officials went to the polls.
In addition, two seats on the court will be up for consideration next year, as Justice Thomas G. Saylor asks for retention and another justice will be elected to fill Mr. Nigro's seat.
"The most important matter is public confidence in the integrity of the judiciary," he said. "Law should not be made in secret in a democracy."
He cites as an example of unnecessary secrecy a private meeting held between Chief Justice Ralph Cappy and legislators to discuss the pay raises before the measure was passed. Though that is not against any judicial canons, Mr. Ledewitz said, it is inappropriate.
Part of his campaign is to eliminate those kinds of meetings, and instead conduct any such business in public.
Tim Potts, a co-founder of Democracy Rising PA, supports Mr. Ledewitz's ideas.
"His platform presents exactly the kind of issues that should be the focus of public debate for elections next year," he said.
Mr. Potts hopes to join forces in spreading the word to prompt more involvement from across the state.
As part of the push to gain a groundswell of support, Mr. Ledewitz planned to take his platform on a statewide tour. But the idea was squelched less than a month ago after Duquesne Law School Dean Donald Guter had lunch with Justice Cappy, Mr. Ledewitz said.
He couldn't comment on what prompted the cancellation. Duquesne was going to pay for the tour.
As part of his platform, Mr. Ledewitz supports a public process for all court appointments to important groups such as the judicial conduct board. Currently, the Supreme Court controls those appointments, but often, he said, the justices place friends and relatives in those positions. For example, he noted that the chairman of the judicial conduct board is the brother of Justice Newman.
Another important issue, Mr. Ledewitz said, is the increasing number of cases being decided by the state's higher courts that come without written, published opinions. In addition to providing accountability, published opinions also help other attorneys who might be working on similar cases, the professor said.
In terms of the openness of the court, Mr. Ledewitz promotes the idea that all court documents -- that don't pertain to a specific case -- be made available to the public, including memos and other internal communications.
During the program, one participant asked Mr. Ledewitz if he plans to run for a seat on the state Supreme Court. Though he says he's considered it, the professor said he will not.
"My interest is changing the way they do business," he said. "I would lose all credibility if I allowed myself to be drafted."
Retired attorney George Raynovich, who attended the program, agrees with much of what Mr. Ledewitz proposes. He does not think, however, that it will gain much public attention.
"It's not easy to get across in a sound bite or an advertisement. It takes in-depth explanation," Mr. Raynovich said. "The practicality of getting this before the public and making them care -- it's something I think is almost an impossible task."
But Mr. Ledewitz believes it can be done -- starting with judicial candidates running next year. Though they are not permitted to comment on their feelings on individual issues, he is hopeful those running for judgeships will address some of these ideas of process and reform.
"We might be the first state to turn our judicial elections into real elections," he said.
First Published August 18, 2006 12:00 am
