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Philadelphia – There will be fallout from last Tuesday’s Republican sweep of available state appellate court seats – just what kind is not certain.



The GOP now has control of the state Supreme Court and all the patronage jobs that come with the majority. Democrats will go back to the drawing board in hopes of presenting stronger candidates in two years. And advocates for merit-based selection of appellate judges will use the results as fodder to advance their cause, though they lost a key ally when Gov. Tom Ridge resigned in October to take a job in Washington.



Merit-based selection proponents point to what they perceive as a flawed electoral system, where two of three Superior Court winners were deemed “not recommended” by the Pennsylvania Bar Association Judicial Evaluation Commission.



But judicial elections are most likely not going anywhere until a new governor is in place in 2003, though Gov. Mark Schweiker, who replaced Ridge, has not weighed in on the subject with any clarity since assuming office last month.



Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel partner Paul Diamond, who served as counsel for the campaigns of Supreme Court Justices Sandra Schultz Newman and Ronald Castille, said the only possible solution contains some serious flaws.



“The only thing you could do to educate the public is to allow the candidates to give their opinions about certain issues,” Diamond said. “And that’s fraught with problems because lawyers appearing before them would constantly ask them to recuse themselves, and it would create an appearance of unfairness.”



But Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Carl Primavera said he believes the state has been lucky to elect some quality appellate judges in spite of what he believes is a flawed process. With Republican Supreme Court winner Michael Eakin and Democratic candidate Kate Ford Elliott slamming each other in television spots, Primavera said the most recent election for Supreme Court “got a little bit out of hand.”



“I’d like to see a group like the Pew Fund sponsor a post-election survey that asks voters questions like whether they were influenced by party affiliation, were they turned off by the negative ads, do they think they were able to make a wise, informed decision.”

Student Sues Over Bus Audio Recordings

Reading – A former Berks County student has sued the school district, saying that her privacy was violated when an audio-equipped school bus camera recorded her conversation.



Morgan Keppley, 20, of Robeson Township, filed a lawsuit in Berks County Common Pleas Court seeking more than $50,000 in damages and requests class action status to represent all students in the Twin Valley district who rode camera-equipped buses.



The suit claims Twin Valley used bus surveillance cameras to record actions and conversations of students, including Keppley.



‘People don’t realize what has happened to them,’ Keppley’s attorney, Simon Grill, of Reading, said. ‘Now we are going to let people know what’s going on.’



The suit did not reveal the nature of Keppley’s recorded conversation, and Grill declined to discuss the matter.



It is unclear whether students had been officially notified of the device’s presence, or that it was equipped to record audio.



Named in the suit are the school district, school board members and two bus companies that serve the district, Eschelman Transportation Inc. of Mohnton and George Krapf Jr. & Sons of Glenmoore, Chester County.

Officers Cleared in Trial Over Teen’s Suicide