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Channel: Pennsylvania – Gavel to Gavel
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Effort to increase judicial retirement age fails for 7th year in a row in VA,...

It appears that for the 7th year in a row, an effort to increase the mandatory retirement age of 70 for Virginia’s judges will fail, but similar efforts in other states are showing signs of movement. A...

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Efforts to enact, modify, or end merit selection for judges: what is moving...

I’ve had several readers ask for a synopsis of what is gong on in states to enact, modify, or end merit selection in 2013. This post is intended to respond to those queries. The latest information can...

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After record number of impeachment attempts against judges in 2011/2012, 2013...

One of the big stories coming out of the 2010 elections was the record number of attempts to impeach judges, almost all focused on decisions they rendered. A review of the list from the 2011/2012...

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As expected, Pennsylvania House begins formal process for impeachment of...

I mentioned last week that despite a huge influx of impeachment attempts in 2011/2012 against judges that 2013 has effectively zero or possibly 1 such effort. That possible effort is now officially...

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15 Pennsylvania House members sign onto resolution to immediately impeach...

I mentioned last week that the Pennsylvania House was starting to take the formal steps for impeachment of State Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin after her felony convictions in February. HR 159,...

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Update on mandatory judicial retirement legislation: bills in 16 states, but...

I’ve mentioned in the past the sheer volume of bills, particularly in the last 3 years, to increase or eliminate the mandatory retirement age for judges. So far while there has been a great deal of...

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It is dog eat dog in Pennsylvania, but under a bill introduced last week that...

I’ve mentioned the various and sundry ways that state legislatures have attempted to pay for court technology. Pennsylvania has what is perhaps a unique system, one which may be ending soon, involving...

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Pennsylvania constitutional amendment would restructure state’s entire...

The question of how courts are funded and how much has been at issue long before the recent Great Recession. Two items have crept up over and over again. First, much of the fees, fines, and costs...

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Pennsylvania constitutional amendment would apply state’s Ethics Act to...

States are often divided in terms of the application of their ethics laws to the courts. In many instances at least some portions of the ethics laws do not apply to the courts. As I noted in my essay...

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Pennsylvania legislature approves increasing mandatory retirement age for...

Tuesday the Pennsylvania Senate approved on a 44-6 vote HJR 79, a constitutional amendment to increase the state’s mandatory judicial retirement age from the end of the year the judge turns 70 to the...

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Pennsylvania Legislative Year in Review: increasing mandatory judicial...

Constitutional Amendment HB 79 Increases mandatory retirement age for judges from 70 to 75. Must be approved by 2015/2016 legislature to appear on 2015 or 2016 ballot. SB 333 Eliminates all...

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Plans to drug test judges making a comeback; PA & MO bills would specify...

Three years ago amid a huge national push to drug test welfare recipients I noted here, here and here that several states plus Puerto Rico had proposed drug testing judges in particular. I also noted...

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Bans on court use of sharia/international law: are there the votes in the FL...

The 2014 efforts to ban state court use of international or foreign laws in general, and sharia law in particular, are effectively over save for two states. Since I last updated this in early March the...

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PA Senate President offers amendment with little/no warning to reduce Supreme...

Media reports are just coming in regarding an effort by the Pennsylvania Senate President to cut the number of appellate judges in the state. According to this item from The Legal Intelligencer...

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Pennsylvania: Hearing on merit selection plan set for today, membership of...

Update: According to this tweet by the Communications Coordinator with the PA House Republican Caucus the vote on the proposal has been delayed. Pennsylvania’s House Judiciary Committee is set to...

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Pennsylvania Senate votes 40-10 to drop plan to eliminate seats in appellate...

News reports, confirmed by the Pennsylvania Senate’s website, indicate that the Senate late yesterday dropped provisions from a proposed constitutional amendment that would have eliminated seats on two...

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Efforts to change state constitutions to remove/alter Judicial Council or...

Pennsylvania, like New Hampshire, has had several legislative efforts in recent years to change the rulemaking authority of the state’s Supreme Court, resulting in one change. The Supreme Court shall...

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Changing civil jurisdiction thresholds – Part 4

This fourth in a series of posts looks at legislative efforts to change the civil jurisdiction thresholds in state limited and general jurisdiction courts in the last decade. For a listing of all...

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Illinois becomes sixth U.S. legislature in 2014 to consider bill for drug...

Last week Illinois became the sixth U.S. legislature (five states + 1 territory) to consider a bill to mandate drug testing judges. Under HB 6313 of 2014 a person may not serve as a judge, or return to...

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Pennsylvania Legislative Year in Review: paying for judicial computer system,...

Law HB 1337 Changes the composition of surcharges levied for the Access to Justice (ATJ) Account and the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network (PLAN) and extends sunset of surcharge to 2017. Increases the...

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