Some Things to Consider When Selecting a Magistrate
CHAPTER 51. STANDARDS OF CONDUCT OF MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT JUDGES
PENNSYLVANIA RULES FOR MAGISTERIAL DISTRICT JUDGES
Canon
1. A magisterial district judge shall uphold and promote the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary, and shall avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.
2. A magisterial district judge shall perform the duties of judicial office impartially, competently, and diligently.
3. A magisterial district judge shall conduct the magisterial district judge’s personal and extrajudicial activities to minimize the risk of conflict with the obligations of judicial office.
4. A magisterial district judge or candidate for judicial office shall not engage in political or campaign activity that is inconsistent with the independence, integrity, or impartiality of the judiciary.
Rule
1—15. [Reserved].
16. Transfer of Dockets and Other Papers.
17. Supervision of Magisterial District Courts by President Judges.
18. Applicability to Judges of the Traffic Court of Philadelphia.
19. Certification Requirements of Interested Persons.
20. Continuing Education Requirement.
21. Continuing Education Requirement: Senior Magisterial District Judges.
22. Continuing Education Requirement: Philadelphia Traffic Court.
23. [Reserved].
81. Acts of Assembly Suspended.
Magisterial District Judges and Arraignment Court Magistrates who are not members of the bar of this Commonwealth shall complete a course of training and instruction in the duties of their respective offices and pass an examination prior to assuming office." Judicial Code (42 Pa C.S.A. §3112, as mandated by 42 Pa C.S.A. §1127)
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Common Sense
"Judges, including those who are lawyers, said the diverse experience and common sense that the best magistrates bring to their courts more than makes up for any deficiency in formal legal training.
"We are not country bumpkins," said Stuyvesant Town Justice Carrie A. O'Hare, a doctoral candidate in Columbia County. "Training to be a lawyer is not necessarily training to be an effective justice at the town and village court level. Town and village justices require the capacity to research the law, but they require much more that is not systematically addressed in a law school education: skills in communicating with people without legal backgrounds, management skills and organizational knowledge."
Tuckahoe Village Justice David O. Fuller Jr., a Harvard Law School graduate and former Manhattan assistant district attorney, said non-lawyers serve the system well.
"Those in business, education and formerly in state positions, among many others, have been able, with adequate training, to render well-informed decisions to the public," Justice Fuller said. "They bring specialized experience with transportation, parks and recreation, conservation and many other matters peculiar to certain areas of the state that members of the bar may not have.""
-Debate on Town Judges Questions Need for Degree -- By John Caher
Albany Bureau Chief,
New York Law Journal http://www.law.com/jsp/nylj/index.jsp
ALBANY - (January 30th 2007)
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Re: Justice and Justices
By Anthony Henry Smith
Is every lawyer qualified to be a justice?
Wisdom consists of the ability to utilize knowledge within a context of values.
Law can be applied by a trained craftsperson to produce solutions that are legal, but are not necessarily "Just" or fair. Fairness can only be realized through Wisdom.
Wisdom is not a mantel to be bestowed by lofty titles or degrees. Wisdom occurs at the confluence of the love of learning and nobility of spirit. These qualities are the hallmarks of a true leader and a worthy judge.
Properly framed the question is this:
How many degree holders, lawyers included, are capable of rising above the level of crafting merely legal solutions? How many by virtue of their love of learning and nobility of spirit are capable of attaining the level of fairness known as Justice and are therefore qualified to be installed as justices?
One need look no further than our own federal government to realize the finest education, absent values, is not evidence of Wisdom.
(-Anthony Henry Smith can be reached at ahsfolkapl@aol.com )
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