From We the People PA (http://wethepeoplepa.org/):
We learned as early as junior high school that an independent judiciary is a critical part of the checks and balances and is necessary to protecting not only our rights and liberties but democracy itself.
That’s why we’re asking you to go to https://actionnetwork.org/letters/stop-judicial-gerrymandering-protect-our-courts to contact your state Senator to ask him/her to oppose a Republican Constitutional amendment that would to undermine the independence of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and other appellate courts by changing how we elect them.
Under our Constitution we elect justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and judges of the Commonwealth and Superior Courts statewide. The proposed Republican amendment would elect each justice and judge in a regional district with the the lines drawn by the General Assembly.
Why is this so bad? You know that legislators already gerrymander legislative district lines to give a huge advantage to one party or another. This amendment will allow the dominant party in the General Assembly, rather than the people of Pennsylvania, to ultimately control the courts as well, concentrating power in the way our Founders feared.
And even worse, legislators would be able to redraw judicial district lines at any time to target particular justices for reprisal by making it difficult or impossible for them to be reelected.
We can still stop this dangerous power grab, which has already passed the House of Representatives, if our state Senators hear from us right now. Please use our easy on-line tool to tell them to oppose judicial gerrymandering.
The Republicans have offered some implausible justifications for their proposal. They claim, falsely, that the courts do not represent Pennsylvanians from different parts of the state. But if you look at where our justices and judges were born you will see that they come from all over. And, even if they didn’t, judges are not legislators who need to understand local as well as statewide needs. Justices and judges should be fair-minded and know the law. There is no Montgomery County or Elk County way to interpret statutes or the Constitution of Pennsylvania.
The real story is that Republicans are advancing this proposal because the Supreme Court recently ruled against their effort to bypass the Constitution and end Governor Wolf’s COVID-19 state of emergency and, before the 2018 election ruled that their gerrymandered congressional districts were unconstitutional.
We need an independent Court precisely to stop legislative overreach that threatens not just our constitution and democracy but, right now, our lives as well.
Please join your fellow Pennsylvanians in telling our state Senators to oppose this plan to undermine an independent judiciary. Send a message to your Senator today—and tell your friends to do so as well.
Thank you for defending democracy and the rights and liberties of all Pennsylvanians.
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