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Monday, November 2, 2009

Judicial slime
Pa. Supreme Court candidates Jack Panella (front) and Joan Orie Melvin (center) during a debate last week at Temple.

Both candidates for Pennsylvania Supreme Court have been ruled out of order for misleading campaign advertisements in the waning days of their lively race.

In an evaluation of the ads, FactCheck.org said Republican Joan Orie Melvin's campaign had "no evidence" to back up its claim that Democratic opponent Jack Panella "turned his back" on kids while a member of the Judicial Conduct Board. The board received an anonymous complaint about one of the Luzerne County judges who was eventually convicted in the "kids for cash" scandal, taking kickbacks in return for placing juveniles in two private detention centers.

It's been well documented that the anonymous complaint did not mention juvenile placements, although Orie Melvin's ad keeps trying to link Panella to the issue that is still making headlines.

Meanwhile, Panella's campaign is guilty of stretching the truth in an ad claiming that Orie Melvin's judicial career has been "mired in controversy" and that her rulings are "extreme." 

Both candidates are currently judges on the state Superior Court, where facts presumably still count for something.

 

 

 
Posted by Dave Boyer @ 4:07 PM  Permalink | Post a comment
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