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Judicial integrity is an issue in Pa. primary

Public perception of the judiciary has again emerged as a central issue in the statewide judicial campaigns, this time in the primary race to fill a single vacancy on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Public perception of the judiciary has again emerged as a central issue in the statewide judicial campaigns, this time in the primary race to fill a single vacancy on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

With a high-profile judicial-corruption case in Luzerne County fresh on voters' minds and questions about the length of time it took the Supreme Court to respond to issues raised by the case, candidates for the highest court are pledging to restore integrity to the bench.

This year, three Republicans - Superior Court Judges Joan Orie Melvin and Cheryl Allen and Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Paul Panepinto - and one Democrat, Superior Court Judge Jack Panella, seek election to the Supreme Court.

Voters in Tuesday's primary also will choose among 18 candidates looking to fill three open seats on Superior Court and two on Commonwealth Court.

The election comes amid fallout from a corruption scandal that involved two former Luzerne County judges. In a case that gained national attention, the judges pleaded guilty to accepting kickbacks for favorable sentences from the operators of a juvenile detention center. As a result, as many as 1,200 juvenile convictions might be thrown out.

At a candidates' forum in Harrisburg earlier this month, Melvin called the scandal a "horrific event" and a "national embarrassment for Pennsylvania."

"We have to restore the tarnished image the court has acquired over the last few years," said Allen, of Pittsburgh, echoing statements by the other candidates.

The candidates also stressed the need for transparency in the judiciary, the result of the lingering effects of the 2005 legislative pay raise, whose architect was the late Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph Cappy. Anger over the pay raise led to the defeat of former Supreme Court Justice Russell M. Nigro in his bid for reelection in 2006. Cappy retired in 2008, leaving open the seat that is up in this election.

Several of the candidates criticized the way the Supreme Court handled the Luzerne County judges case, eventually suspending the judges without pay and approving a special master's recommendation to overturn the convictions, but not stepping in until after the judges had been charged with violating the law.

"Nothing was done about it until the indictment came," said Allen, who has served 19 years on the bench. "When these kinds of things come to your attention, they need to be looked into."

Lynn Marks, executive director of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, said anger over the Luzerne case might drive voters to the polls in an off-year election with historically low turnout.

"People are saying, 'We don't want a court system like the one we read about in Luzerne,' " said Marks, whose Philadelphia group sponsored the candidates' forum.

Melvin, who is endorsed by the Republican Party, has served as a judge for 23 years at the local, county, and state levels. She drew statewide attention with her unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to refuse the 2005 pay raise approved for all state judges.

Panepinto has been a judge in his native Philadelphia for 17 years. He said he believed his reputation in the populous southeast makes him a stronger candidate in the general election than his competitors from the west.

Panella, a Superior Court judge in Northampton County, is unopposed in the Democratic primary. He has served 17 years on the bench and is endorsed by the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. All four candidates received the top "highly recommended" rating from a state bar panel.

In other races:

Six Democrats seek nominations for Superior Court: Philadelphia Judges Anne E. Lazarus, Paula A. Patrick and John Milton Younge; Allegheny County Judge Robert J. Colville; Allegheny County prosecutor Kevin F. McCarthy; and Lackawanna County Judge Tom Munley.

The Republican candidates for Superior Court are unopposed: Allegheny County Judge Judith Olson, Pittsburgh lawyer Templeton Smith Jr., and Tioga County lawyer Sallie Updyke Mundy.

Six Democrats are vying for seats on Commonwealth Court: Philadelphia Judge Jimmy Lynn, Pittsburgh lawyer Daniel K. Bricmont, Philadelphia lawyer Stephen G. Pollock, and Pittsburgh lawyers Linda S. Judson, Michael Sherman and Barbara Jo Ernsberger.

There are three Republican candidates for Commonwealth Court: Alfonso Frioni Jr., a commissioner on the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Appeals Board from Pittsburgh; Harrisburg lawyer Kevin Brobson; and Pittsburgh lawyer Patricia A. McCullough.