Also this issue: The Bye Line Was Lundy forced to Walker the plank? -Deborah Bolling Eighth Wonder The battle for this Northwest Council seat is anything but friendly. -Daryl Gale At-Large and In Charge -Daryl Gale The Commish A look at who's running for City Commissioner. -Mary F. Patel Gale Warning: SEPTA-fied The French Rejection The Bell Curve City Paper's weekly gauge of Philly's Quality of Life Bite the Ballot

May 14-20, 2003

city beat

The Jury's Out

A roundup of judicial candidates in Tuesday's primary.

by Mary F. Patel

The Supreme Court

There will be one opening on the Supreme Court in December and there are five candidates running in the Democratic primary. The Democratic State Committee voted for an open primary, and therefore made no endorsements.

The winner will face Republican Joan Orie Melvin, who is unopposed in her party's primary. Republican Paul Panepinto, a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge, dropped out last month in favor of Melvin.

The seven-member Pennsylvania Supreme Court is the highest judicial authority in the state.

Democratic Candidates

Cheryl Allen is an Allegheny County Common Pleas family court judge. She is the only woman running, and is African American. To date, only one woman and one African-American man have been elected to the high court. Allen said that when people relate to her, qualms over gender and race fall by the wayside.

Max Baer is also an Allegheny County Common Pleas family court judge. He received the Federal Department of Health and Human Services award for Judicial Innovation and was honored at the White House by former President Bill Clinton.

James DeLeon III is a Philadelphia Municipal Court judge who is known for some of his high-profile cases, like the Allen Iverson gun-charge hearing. He's been dogged recently by criticism of the bail he set for a defendant who allegedly went on to murder the son of a labor leader. DeLeon maintains that he was not the only judge on the case and blames the police and the District Attorney's office and claims that he is being targeted because he is a black man running for a high court. He is supported heavily by various labor unions.

John Herron is a Philadelphia Common Pleas orphan's court judge. He is credited with implementing a program to handle complex business and commercial disputes, a training program for judges on racial and gender bias issues and alleviating the backlog of civil cases.

James Murray Lynn is a Philadelphia Common Pleas family court judge who says his greatest accomplishment is in streamlining the court adoption process.

Superior Court

There are three openings for the Superior Court, a lower appeals court. The three Democrats who win the primary will face the three endorsed Republican candidates -- Granger Bowman, Palmer Dolbin and Susan Gantman -- in November's general election.

Democratic Candidates

Robert Blasi is a Philadelphia Municipal Court judge. He received the John Neufeld Achievement Award and the Federal Intra-Agency Award for his program for filing civil cases in Municipal Court online. He is also credited with saving state money by realigning cases back to the district courts.

Mark Bernstein is a Philadelphia Common Pleas Court judge in the civil division. He is known for reducing the backlog of 23,000 civil cases and has a lot of support in Allegheny County.

John Driscoll is a Westmoreland County Common Pleas family court judge. He is chair of the Criminal Procedural Rules Committee and a former district attorney known for raising accountability in the department.

William Manfredi is the supervising judge of the civil trial division in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court. He served 10 years in criminal court, where he was recognized for his homicide trial programs as well as his extensive involvement in statewide mentoring programs.

Seamus McCaffery is a Philadelphia Municipal Court judge and is best known for his night court for rowdy Philadelphia Eagles fans and his Harley Davidson. He is the emergency preparedness liaison officer for homeland defense for the state.

Jack Panella is a Northampton Common Pleas Court judge. He was appointed by the state Supreme Court to the Judicial Disciplinary Board and teaches law at Temple Law School.

Claude Shields is an attorney from Schuylkill County. He was a former district attorney and a former deputy attorney general.

Common Pleas Court

There are 27 candidates running for nine openings in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Many are cross-filed in both the Republican and Democratic parties. Top contenders include Ramy Djerassi, Lori Dumas, John Raimondi and Ira Shrager.