PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — When Philadelphians go to the polls on Tuesday, they will decide more than which mayoral and City Council candidates will move on to the general election. They will also decide a handful of spots for Municipal Court and Court of Common Pleas judges.
These judges play a huge role in our daily lives, says attorney Marc Zucker, chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association — be it a dispute between landlord and tenant, a divorce, a fight over child custody, a dispute with a credit card company, an appeal to a zoning decision — or keeping violent defendants behind bars.
The Bar Association is a professional network of attorneys promoting justice, excellence and respect for the rule of law, is urging people to vote. And to that end, they want to help voters make a choice.
“The average voter just doesn’t know how to compare one candidate to another,” Zucker said.
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For every election, the PBA convenes a nonpartisan Judicial Committee, composed of lawyers and non-lawyers from all walks of life, to determine who among the candidates is qualified to sit on the bench. The committee investigates each candidate, interviewing the people who know them and digging through records. Then they vote on whether to recommend, highly recommend or not recommend each candidate.
“All political parties, without regard to a political affiliation — and the idea is to rise above politics, so that judges can be selected based on merit,” Zucker said.
“We do look at documents, we do online searches. We check with the Disciplinary Board to make sure there are no disciplinary violations. We check dockets to make sure that there are not a huge number of liens or judgments against a candidate that would reflect on the candidate’s organizational ability or financial ability and motivation to serve as a judge.”
Zucker said the committee evaluates candidates based on 10 criteria, including legal experience, understanding of the law, temperament and demeanor, community involvement, character and integrity, and physical capacity to perform the job.
“In some ways more than any other elected office, a judge is making decisions about the future of each citizen in Philadelphia,” Zucker said.
“In the criminal context, with everything from minor traffic violations and parking meter appeals, to misdemeanors and felonies, those who are victims of crimes need to know that a judge with competence will handle their case appropriately — and likewise, those accused of crimes need to be certain that adequate safeguards are in place to be sure that, as a criminal defendant, they will be treated properly.
“And then we have added a layer of analysis to just make sure that candidates are sensitive to issues of diversity, which is such an important part of the day to day work of a judge. We want to eliminate biases to the extent possible, and recognize those who have tried their best to be devoid of those biases.”
Judges hold their positions for a term of 10 years.
To see the full list of vetted candidates, go to ElectQualifiedJudges.com.
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