Stop Judicial Gerrymandering, Protect Our Courts!
Say NO to efforts to influence our state courts through partisan gerrymandering of our judicial elections! Representative Russ Diamond has proposed a constitutional amendment that would change how we elect judges to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Commonwealth Court and Superior Court. Instead of electing judges statewide, we would elect them in districts created by the General Assembly. This would allow legislators to gerrymander districts to give one or another party an advantage in winning judicial elections. This opens our courts up to partisan power grabs, and undue and harmful legislative influence.
This amendment passed the Senate and House, and now will go to its second consecutive session - constitutional amendments need to pass twice. We cannot allow it to pass again in this next session!
They need to hear from you, as a constituent! They must understand that this is not only unpopular amongst Pennsylvanians, but dangerous for our democracy.
Remember:
Given the role judges play in our constitutional government, an election by district is unnecessary. There is no Montgomery County or Elk County way to interpret statutes and the Pennsylvania Constitution.
This amendment would undermine the independence of the courts required by the separation of powers and checks and balances by giving elected officials in the General Assembly far too much influence over them.
When elected officials in the General Assembly have too much power over our courts it’s bad for democracy, no matter who or what party is in charge.
Electing judges in districts can make it more difficult to put the best-qualified judges on the bench
Electing judges in districts is a solution looking for a problem to solve. Look at who sits on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court today and you will see that they come seven different counties in three different states. There is no problem with a lack of geographic diversity on our courts
On the next page, you'll see a sample letter and some tips for writing to your legislator. Thank you for making your voice heard and for fighting for democracy!
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