The suspension of Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin earlier this year has left the court divided equally with three Democrats and three Republicans, creating the possibility of 3-3 split decisions and default affirmation of appellate court rulings. As a result, the first-level appellate courts in Pennsylvania — the Superior and Commonwealth courts — may be the last stop in the state judicial process. This is madness. Members of the appellate bar and law professors agree that the votes will effectively neutralize the Supreme Court in many cases and leave in place rulings that litigants believe are dubious at best.
Font Size: 
Editorial Board
Absence of Seventh Justice Impairs Court's Ability to Act
The Legal Intelligencer
September 12, 2012
This content is now available at LexisNexis®.
The ALM® and LexisNexis® Content Alliance
LexisNexis® is now the exclusive third party online distributor of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM’s legal news publications. LexisNexis® customers will be able to access and use ALM’s content by subscribing to the LexisNexis® services via lexis.com® and Nexis®. This includes content from The National Law Journal®, The American Lawyer®, Law Technology News®, The New York Law Journal® and Corporate Counsel®, as well as ALM’s other newspapers, directories, legal treatises, published and unpublished court opinions, and other sources of legal information.
ALM’s content plays a significant role in your work and research, and now through this alliance LexisNexis® will bring you access to an even more comprehensive collection of legal content.
If you are not currently a LexisNexis subscriber, contact 1-800-227-4908 to find out more or click here to have a customer representative contact you directly.
