Plan to abolish Traffic Court draws mixed reactions
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Plan to abolish Traffic Court draws mixed reactions
Sean Collins Walsh
Following Republican state Sen. Dominic Pileggi's proposal on Friday that Harrisburg abolish Philadelphia’s controversy-plagued Traffic Court, reaction from across the aisle has ranged from the tepid to the tempestuous.
Speaking for the Philadelphia Democratic City Committee, Lou Farinella Jr. said abolishing the court wouldn’t solve any problems.
“They talk about political corruption. How the hell did they get their jobs? How did Pileggi get elected? Did he fall off a rock? People voted him in just like people vote in Traffic Court judges,” Farinella said. “I hate to sound political but I think the Republicans are just on a witch hunt in Philadelphia County.”
The committee’s chairman, U.S. Rep. Bob Brady (D-Phila.), was listed in the investigation as one of the “frequent requesters of special consideration.” Farinella said none of the allegations have been proven to be true.
Democratic state Sen. Shirley Kitchen, of North Philadelphia, said she agrees the Traffic Court needs reform but will have to see more evidence before taking a stance on Pileggi’s proposal.
“We just have to make sure that this is an improvement and make sure they’re not just being pushed from one system to another,” she said. “This is a big city, so you couldn’t just include the Traffic Court into the systems we already have and not expect it to have some kind of effect on the speediness of a trial and the personnel.”
For Pileggi, the No. 2 Senate Republican, the issue is cut-and-dry.
“The lack of integrity at Philadelphia Traffic Court has been demonstrated time after time,” Pileggi said in a statement. “There is no objective evidence that the continued existence of the Philadelphia Traffic Court would serve the public interest.”
On Friday, the Chester County senator announced plans to introduce two measures: a state constitutional amendment to get rid of the court, and a bill that would transfer its duties to municipal courts — as is done in all other Pennsylvania counties.
The Traffic Court, at 8th and Spring Garden streets, has been under siege since a November report detailed how politicians often requested and received favors from Traffic Court judges. The investigation was ordered by the First Judicial District, which manages Philly’s courts, after word spread of an FBI probe into Traffic Court.
Administrative Judge Gary Glazer, appointed in late 2011 to oversee Traffic Court, said he and the First Judicial District “fully support” Pileggi’s efforts.
“The history of that court shows that there has been, since its inception, access granted and favors given on the basis of political contacts,” he said.
Attempts to contact Traffic Court judges Friday were unsuccessful.
Contact staff writer Sean Collins Walsh at 215-854-4172 or walshSE@phillynews.com.
Abolish it and move the operations to Philly municipal court, where all of the judges are honest and above reproach. Sounds good to me.— Moe_Syzlak- Bill #?— PhillyBoy
- This sounds nice at first but....
Philadelphia has roughly three times the population of (by way of example) Delaware County. Delaware County (http://www.co.delaware.pa.us/courts/districtjudges.html) has 34 district justices. Philadelphia (http://www.courts.phila.gov/municipal/) has just 25 municipal court judges. I have an uncomfortable feeling that throwing this kind of traffic-enforcement burden on Philadelphia Municipal Court is going to have a LOT of unintended -- and undesirable -- consequences if it isn't thought out VERY carefully.
I'm not saying it shouldn't be given some consideration, but Pileggi's idea isn't necessarily the greatest thing to come along since sliced bread.— CurrerBell - Get rid of it or demand a law degree for judges.— mephisto
- Absolutely, In a city that has 300-400 murders per year, for the last 6 years, we should have Municipal Court Judges hearing traffic disputes. There isn't enough violent crime in the city to keep the judges busy, they should be deciding on traffic issues...what a joke!!!— ETnPhilly
- But where will Philly get its money to support its corrupt, content, and provincial government? lol.— FletcherT
- Access to favors on????? Largely over-aggressive police car stops, spurious violations, pretexts for car searches.....favors resulted in points removed and tickets were amended to same-fine non-point offenses. CJC is already heavily overburdened - adding traffic offenses would make it impossible to operate.— zen
- Municipal Court Docket
Case #1 ...Murder Case
Case #2....Rape Case
Case #3...Not wearing a seat belt.— ETnPhilly - What's a ward leader to do?— Paul Deon
- Dam, where will all the scum politicians send their puppets to.....
What's a poor judge like Seamus to do now......— frank1121
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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