Pennsylvania Court Corruption Would Be Stifled By HB 38
By Rep. Russ Diamond
Pennsylvania is known for its chocolate, its mountains — and its many opportunities for corruption.
In the days leading to my introduction of House Bill 38, I received the usual and expected rebuttals from mainstream journalists and Harrisburg lobbyists. I was accused of inserting gerrymandering into judicial elections and disenfranchising voters, while at the same time lectured about how “merit selection” (involving a 13-person panel) would somehow not disenfranchise them.
I can’t say I am surprised. As an outsider in Harrisburg, you can always expect pushback from special interests and the media who are always in their pocket.
Still, it makes you wonder why on earth every group of lawyers, journalists, and unions are against a bill that would seek to diversify the geographic makeup of our appellate courts. And then you remember the real problem you were seeking to solve in the first place before all of the “critics” descended: corruption.
My bill would not just diversify the gender, demographic, or geographic makeup of our appellate courts. It would also chop at the deep-seated subversion of justice in Pennsylvania.
Corruption is not something we should tolerate or ignore. It’s an embedded weed that has deep roots and has strangled other plant roots underground along the way.
For too long, Pennsylvanians have been given a raw deal by our judicial system and have been the butt of jokes about our public officials. From House speakers to trial court judges to traffic court judges, to Supreme Court judges, the commonwealth has had its fair share of judicial malpractice and public corruption.
The simple fact of the matter is that Philadelphia and Allegheny have been playing by their own rules while people like my constituents in Lebanon County suffer.
Of the most recent seven appellate court judges convicted or accused of serious crimes, four of them were from Allegheny or Philadelphia. Of the 19 judges on the Pennsylvania Superior Court, the court that decided that Speaker Bill DeWeese and Speaker John Perzel do not need to pay fines for their crimes, 12 of them are from Philadelphia or Allegheny.
You see, the current system of statewide elections for appellate court judges breeds a political class exempted from the rule of law.
Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, the major special interest group pushing against my bill, noted in its own April 2017 study that our commonwealth “has not been a stranger to judicial scandals.” The group perceived the ethics of our higher court judges to be of such concern it issued a report in 2011 on the state’s judicial disciplinary system.
But instead of proposing a decentralization of power that could help prevent such corruption from encompassing government, Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts is proposing to move power away from the voters into the hands of a politically savvy merit selection board.
Real reform gives Pennsylvanians a fair shake instead of rigging it for the politically connected.
That’s why every special interest, media outlet, and lawyer lobbyist is against my bill. Unfortunately for them, they won’t dissuade me and other honest legislators. We will fight to get this bill approved so it becomes a ballot question, giving you a voice and opportunity to end corruption in our judicial system.
Rep. Diamond, a Republican, represents the 102nd District in the Pennsylvania House.
Pennsylvania Court Corruption Would Be Stifled By HB 38
(Note: CAP CEO, Leo Knepper had an opportunity to speak with Rep. Diamond about the proposed amendment on February 1, 2021. The video of the interview can be seen below.)
I’ve recently become aware of House Bill 38 which addresses issues in the State’s Judicial System. I believe I am a victim of such issues and am seeking an advocate to assist me. My case is over, was very straight forward but became extremely complicated and prolonged. Now that everything has ended, I have come to believe that I was intentionally led into accepting a plea bargain in order to protect the legal standing of my estranged Daughter who is an Assistant District Attorney and would have been a witness if a trial occurred. Note that I have numerous evidence supporting my claims and my innocence. This includes video, audio and social media posts.
The reason I am acting now is a falsified court transcript that I recently received. My requests for this document was deliberately ignored by the court for over six months and did not move forward until I involved my local Attorney. When I received this document, I was stunned to see that it was deliberately altered. The court removed slanderous comments made by my Daughter, ADA to my Attorney during my final court appearance. So you are fully aware, this case involves a Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas and the State Attorney General’s office who prosecuted me. I firmly stand behind my innocence and the claims I am asserting. In conclusion, I am now fully convinced that I was misled into a plea deal in order to protect my Daughters legal standing.,
If you would like to discuss this or able to recommend an Attorney who would be willing to purse this matter, please contact me via this board.