PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — In every Pennsylvania county this election, judges are on the ballot — but, how do you decide who sits on the bench?
“Judges affect every aspect of our lives,” said Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Marc Zucker, “whether you are in front of the judge in a case or just affected by everything from abortion rights to voting rights to taxes that are being challenged based on violations of the law.
“You come before a judge with a traffic ticket. You come before a judge because you have been arrested and accused of a crime. You come before a judge because someone is suing you, or you are suing someone else.”
Some of the ballots may ask voters to select a certain number of judges, while some judicial candidates are up for retention.
“It is critical that all judges act in a non-partisan fashion, and that is one of the issues we consider in evaluating whether a judge who is up for retention should be retained,” said Zucker, “whether an attorney has been so much of an advocate for a political position that they may have difficulty switching roles once they come on the bench.”
When voting for the right candidate, he said it should come down to who is the most qualified.
“A sitting judge is not supposed to be partisan in any way, and that is something to consider,” he said. “That’s why often in these campaigns we don’t hear how a judge would rule in a particular matter because that judge cannot take a position in advance and that judge cannot take a partisan position.”
Several county bar associations have shared a list of judges that they would or would not recommend, based on certain criteria like experience, character and a full investigation into each of their backgrounds. View their recommendations below:
Montgomery County Bar Association
Chester County Bar Association
Delaware County Bar Association
Pennsylvania Bar Association’s recommendations for state appellate courts
Philadelphia Bar Association