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.
Technically, there is no Supreme Court vacancy. Even though Orie Melvin is suspended from any official action, she is still a member of the court. The court needs to find some method to utilize a sitting lower court judge to fill that vacancy. When Justice Rolf Larsen was suspended nearly 10 years ago, the court appointed Senior Judge Frank Montemuro to fill his spot. While appellate lawyers and judicial scholars point out that the current factual circumstance is different from the Larsen situation, and the justices may not be able to rely upon their previous appointment as precedent, the bottom line is the court needs a seventh justice.
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