The November 8 issue of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has this article about the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The focus of the article is Orie Melvin, the new justice who was elected by the voters last week. The article suggests that she is a different breed of judge than the other members of that Court, and refers back to some of the reasons that neutral observers have a low opinion of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

The article doesn’t mention the treatment that that Court has given to minor party and independent candidates ever since 2004, nor does it mention that in 2008, the Pennsylvania League of Women Voters had filed a federal lawsuit alleging that the justices made a corrupt deal with the legislature. Nor does the article mention that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court had turned a blind eye to the scandal in Wilkes-Barre when local state judges accepted bribes from the owner of a juvenile detention home in return for exorbitantly long sentences for juveniles (this is featured in Michael Moore’s movie “Capitalism: A Love Story”). Thanks to Howard Bashman’s How Appealing blog for the link.