Why Judicial Retention is Important

By: Michael J. Davey, Esquire , President, Delaware County Bar Association

This November, voters in Pennsylvania will be asked to vote to retain various trial-level and appellate court judges. This process—known as judicial retention—is a process unique to Pennsylvania's Constitution. And it's also unique in that it's a process that many voters are unfamiliar with.

By design, judicial retention is intended to be non-political. We choose our state court judges for the first time via a traditional political campaign and election. Candidates seeking a new judicial office run under a party banner and are oftentimes endorsed by local or state-wide political parties. Like individuals seeking other elective offices, candidates for judicial office will buy TV ads, run social media campaigns, and attend fundraising events. If elected, those individuals then serve a ten-year term. At the end of that first decade of service, those judges then have to run for retention.

When they do so, judges act differently than they did when they first ran for their offices.  You won't find them endorsed by any political party. You won't find them giving speeches or holding rallies. Usually, you won't find them anywhere. And that's on purpose. Because (as I mentioned earlier), judicial retention in Pennsylvania is, by design, supposed to be a non-political choice.

And that choice is a fairly straight-forward one: should a particular judge be retained or not? In other words, do the voters believe that he or she should continue serving on the bench for another ten years? The answer to that question should be based on things like judicial temperament, respect for the parties, and respect for the law. Frankly, many voters—especially those who have had no interactions or experience with the legal system—don't know the answers to those questions. Oftentimes, they don't know anything about the individual judges who are running for retention.

So how can voters inform themselves before walking into a polling place to vote on judicial retention? Simply put: ask a lawyer. Ask them about their impressions of, and possible interactions with, any judges running for retention. Ask them if, in their professional opinion, a judge should be retained. After all, with the exception of the judges themselves, no group of individuals is better qualified to determine whether a judge should be kept on the bench...

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