Subcommittees on the Judiciary and Legislative Reapportionment to Hear Testimony

HARRISBURG (April 26, 2011) - Public hearings to examine Pennsylvania's judiciary and legislative reapportionment process will be held in Philadelphia on May 4 as part of a thorough review of the state's Constitution by subcommittees of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Constitutional Review Commission. The hearings will take place at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute Conference Center, 100 Penn Square East, 10th Floor, Suite 1010.

"These hearings are valuable opportunities for citizens to provide information that will help shape the subcommittee's recommendations to improve the structure and operation of government in the commonwealth," said Pennsylvania Bar Association President Gretchen A. Mundorff. "If the members of the commission's committees conclude that changes are needed based on public input and members' own findings, they will offer suggestions for enacting legislation, amending the state's Constitution or convening a Constitutional Convention."

"It's important that we hear all points of view during the hearing process," said James Gardner Colins, a former Commonwealth Court president judge and Philadelphia lawyer who is chairing the commission. "The constitutional scholars, practicing lawyers, sitting judges and public policy experts serving on our commission want to take a broad view and consider the multitude of ideas and opinions that could improve our commonwealth."

The Legislative Reapportionment Subcommittee is holding a hearing from 10 a.m. to noon on May 4. Scheduled speakers include Lora Lavin, League of Women Voters, and Jeffery Albert, Jewish Social Policy Action Network. The subcommittee is seeking input on the following issues:

• problems in past reapportionments
• specific individual or organizational injuries claimed to be created by Pennsylvania's constitutional reapportionment provisions
• how reapportionment problems or injuries can be cured by changing the Pennsylvania Constitution by amendment or convention
• how reapportionment problems would be cured by adopting a non-partisan reapportionment process

The Judiciary Subcommittee is holding a hearing from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on May 4. Scheduled speakers include Hon. Phyllis W. Beck, Jewish Social Policy Action Network; Charlotte Glauser, League of Women Voters; John Robinson, Justice at Stake; and Lynn Marks, Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts. The subcommittee is seeking input on the following issues:

• the judicial conduct system, including reporting judicial officials protecting confidences and insuring quick and thorough investigations
• judicial selection and financing judicial campaigns
• representation of the indigent, including juveniles
• funding Pennsylvania's courts so as to guarantee an effective judiciary

In addition to the judiciary and legislative reapportionment subcommittees, there are subcommittees of the PBA commission examining public education, the taxation and uniformity clause, the structure of the General Assembly and local government, These subcommittees are also holding public hearings.

In early 2012, the commission will submit a report to the association's House of Delegates, which sets the association's policies, for review and possible action.

Interest in potential changes to the state's Constitution is not new to the association. The Pennsylvania Bar Association had a leadership role in the convening of the limited constitutional convention in 1967-1968.

For more information on the PBA Constitutional Review Commission, consult the webpages at www.pabarcrc.org. or contact Lindsay Still, Pennsylvania Bar Association, 100 South Street, P.O. Box 186, Harrisburg, PA 17108, [email protected].

Founded in 1895, the Pennsylvania Bar Association strives to promote justice, professional excellence and respect for the law; improve public understanding of the legal system; facilitate access to legal services; and serve the 28,000 lawyers who are members of the association.