PHILADELPHIA, March 30, 2016 — State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams issued the following statement today after PA Supreme Court Justice Debra McCloskey Todd urged the Judicial Conduct Board and the court’s disciplinary board to review all emails in the so-called Porngate scandal:
“I commend Justice Todd for focusing the court in the direction of reform and correcting the wrongs that have dragged down our judicial system.
“Pennsylvanians trust their judicial system less because of what has happened in the past year.
“However, if Pennsylvania’s system of judicial review was proper, Justice Todd and others like her would not have to publicly call for action because independent reviews and investigations would already be in place.
“That’s why we are working for judicial reform in the commonwealth. It’s why Senate Bill 1083 exists, and it is why the fox can no longer watch the hen house.
“SB 1083 is designed to remove the state Supreme Court from the judicial discipline process, to revitalize the Judicial Conduct Board and disciplinary board by transferring the Supreme Court’s power to appoint members to those panels to the governor and legislature, to replace some of the judges on the boards with private citizen members, and to make the boards fiscally independent of the court.
“Justice Todd is doing what’s right in her call for an investigation. The General Assembly must do what is right and pass serious judicial reforms.
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