After watching the Pennsylvania Supreme Court take its latest beating in the media over the Philadelphia family court fiasco, I can’t decide if the court is the judicial equivalent of Rocky Balboa or Randall “Tex” Cobb. Balboa is a fictional champ, while Cobb got beat up by a real champ before turning to acting. The only thing those two have in common is an ability to endure horrific abuse. In that case, I guess both analogies work.
Over the course of the 17 years I’ve been covering the court, it’s gotten into more trouble than you would think for a bunch of justices, much of it self-inflicted. From Rolf Larsen’s impeachment and removal from office to the pay raise backlash to the Luzerne County judicial scandal, and now the controversy over attempts to build a new family court building in Philadelphia, the court has a knack for collecting black eyes.
