.@YorkDispatch: “Geographical judicial districts are an unnecessary and baldly political exercise that solve a problem that doesn’t exist (unless one deems having state voters accurately represented at the judicial level a problem).” yorkdispatch.com/story/opinion/…
“It’s noteworthy that Republicans made no such calls for regional courts when they made up the majority on the state Supreme Court from 2002 until 2015. Changing the state constitution at the whim of the party in power is bad government in every way.” post-gazette.com/opinion/editor…
“That lawmakers busy themselves with political retaliation under the guise of judicial reform at a time their full focus should be on the needs of the pandemic moment speaks to their priorities: Self-interest over public interest.” - @jbaernewspennlive.com/news/2020/07/t…
.@CitizensVoice: “Judicial gerrymandering is the worst choice, all the more so because the amendment does not limit the Legislature’s ability to arbitrarily redraw districts at any time. Voters should be prepared to reject this gambit.” citizensvoice.com/opinion/editor…
.@lehighvalley: “Statewide judicial elections are working as intended. If nothing else, they level the playing field along voters’ wishes and enable elected judges to counter some of the worst power grabs by insulated partisan legislators.” lehighvalleylive.com/opinion/2020/0…
You can take action by signing @FairDistrictsPA’s petition to stop this power play to let the legislature gerrymander the courts - something PA does not need and, frankly, power that this legislature definitely has not earned.
TODAY: Angry at being held accountable in court, PA Republicans seek retribution with their judicial districts scheme.
This constitutional change would destroy the courts and disenfranchise 9 million voters in PA.
Legal experts and good gov groups have raised the 🚨. Thread.
"These regional elections would, thereby, disenfranchise voters by eliminating their ability to select the full panel of judges issuing decisions of statewide impact and importance.” - @PA4ModernCourtspmconline.org/stop-judicial-…
"House Bill 38 goes exactly in the wrong direction by compounding the error of judicial elections statewide by making discrete districts that will cause even more pressure for judges to respond to constituents, not the law." - @pabarassn
Courts exist to both enforce law and protect our rights. Here is a simple explanation of why the talking point that the PA Supreme Court “changed” the law is a lie.
The Third Circuit has already ruled in a separate challenge that these ballots can be counted. It is pure fantasy to think that a lower court judge is going to throw them out.
Republicans are showing their anti-democracy colors at every level of government. #CountEveryVote
The most likely scenario is that the federal court dismisses this claim. They will not throw out these votes over a state court.
In American democracy, the equal protection remedy should not be throwing out votes- it should be forcing Westmoreland not to trash people's votes.
Here is a thread on the background of Judge Bibas' opinion in the Third Circuit. The district court is just not going to throw out these votes when a higher court has already ruled they were legally counted.