OPINION: We Must Vote Yes For PA’s Supreme Court

 With Washington under the thumb of a blithering narcissist hell-bent on self-protection, self-empowerment, self-enrichment and revenge, it’s easy for us Pennsylvanians to forget about Harrisburg, especially ahead of what many consider an off-year election.

We can’t do that, though — not when our state Supreme Court is on the ballot and certainly not if we want to preserve what civil rights, fair laws and democracy we have here.

Yes, we have a sane and effective governor in Josh Shapiro. Although he must contend with a divided Legislature, that’s much better than when the GOP held both chambers. (Remember its brazen power grabs and unchecked corporate cronyism, not to mention its numerous attempts to bypass former (Democratic) Gov. Tom Wolf by amending the constitution?)

Our purple state now has a more representative government, largely because the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania ungerrymandered our congressional and legislative districts. It also has based its decisions on our constitution and the rule of law, rather than the whims of aspiring oligarchs and their supporters.

For Pennsylvanians, SCOP is “the last line of defense” against those trying to use the courts to amass more power and wealth, J.J. Abbott, executive director of progressive advocacy group Commonwealth Communications, said at a recent program hosted by Red Wine & Blue PA and For Our Future PA.

This year, a top item on the self-seekers’ agenda is getting rid of justices Christine Donohue, Kevin Dougherty and David Wecht, who ran as Democrats in 2015 and gave their party a 5-2 majority.

In November, it will be up to us voters to decide whether they can stay on the bench for another term.

Judicial retention elections usually get scant attention. The ballots provide no information about the sitting judges, even the political party they ran on. Some counties put the questions on the reverse side of the page. Some voters don’t answer them. And turnout is generally lower in odd-year elections.

However, MAGA fanatic Scott Presler, who moved to Beaver County ahead of the 2024 election, has mounted a vigorous anti-retention campaign through his Early Vote Action political action committee.  

The PAC, which focuses on adding GOP voters, got $1 million from Elon Musk last August, although Presler says he opposes the Dark MAGA’s plans to form a new party.

Musk himself spent about $25 million in a March election he hoped would shift Wisconsin’s Supreme Court right, but his and possibly ex-BFF Donald Trump’s endorsements motivated voters to elect the liberal candidate instead. 

After that defeat, it’s anyone’s guess whether Musk will insert himself in our retention election, but we have our own multibillionaire who’s been trying to flip our courts.

Through various PACs, Jeff Yass has poured millions of dollars into SCOP races since 2121, but the $4.4 million he spent in 2023 is small change for someone whose estimated net worth is $59 billion, according to Arielle Klagsbrun of All Eyes on Yass. (His GOP candidate lost to Democrat Dan McCaffery in that election.)

Because campaign finance reports won’t come out until late September, we don’t know if Yass is funding a say-no-to-retention effort, Klagsbrun said.

But given his track record, we should prepare for and fight it.

After all, we just have to look at7 Washington to see how corrupt and oppressive a judiciary can be. SCOTUS has rolled over for big business, polluters, Christian nationalists, the wealthy and the powerful (notably Trump) while eviscerating the rights and protections of just about everyone else (but notably women, workers, voters and immigrants).

By contrast, Abbott said, SCOP has:

* Revived a lawsuit challenging a ban on Medicaid funding for abortions, which plaintiffs say violates the Equal Rights Amendment in Pennsylvania’s constitution.

* Upheld collective bargaining and other rights for employees.

* Enforced Pennsylvanians’ right to clean air and water, which our constitution also mandates.

*  Struck down unfair voting restrictions.

Our appellate courts also tackle important issues like education and consumer protections, he said.

If the nays have it on retention, Shapiro could appoint replacements to serve until the next municipal election in 2027. But if the Senate, which the GOP currently controls, won’t approve those appointments, SCOP could be deadlocked at two Republicans and two Democrats for the next two years.

Lisa Von Ahn is an experienced columnist previously published in the Pottsville Republican Herald newspaper.

Canary note: Opinions expressed in any Op-Ed column appearing on this site are the views of the writer and are not necessarily the opinions of Coal Region Canary.

Want to be a columnist with Coal Region Canary? Contact us at newscanary@gmail.com.

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