PA Progressives Voters Guide for the primary.

[Curmudgeoness]

If you are not sure who to vote for this Tuesday, this is one source of information on statewide and county seats.

http://keystoneprogress.pnstate.org/site/PageServer?pagename=PAVotersGuidePrimary20111&AddInterest=2101

And thanks for voting.

[femmocrat]

1. Nothing on Westmoreland Co. unfortunately.

Does anyone know who to vote for for sheriff? There are 10 candidates!

Thanks for the useful guide, Curmudgeoness!

[Curmudgeoness]

2. Yeah, I have issues with this guide. It seems that they did not rate

every candidate or seat. We have several candidates for county commissioner and only one is listed. Well, there are three commissioners, and it is either two Dems and one Rep or two Reps and one Dem. And I have a problem with the second option just because we split the vote too much with the second slot and get a poor candidate in the general election. But the guide did help me with statewide seats, which are more difficult since I never know a thing about those candidates. Countywide is easier. I talk to people in the party, or I know some of the candidates (good or bad).

Sorry it didn't help for your county.

[Divernan]

3. Glad to see they support Alex Bicket for Common Pleas judge.

Alex was one of only 2 of the many candidates for judge to get the county bar's "highest" recommendation.

Explanation of the "Highly Recommended" rating by the Allegheny County Bar Association


(1) He exhibits preeminence in the law by way of outstanding legal ability and a wide range of experience, either in a specialized field of law or a more varied practice, and has a reputation in the legal community as standing at the top of his profession.

(2) He possesses the highest reputation for integrity and temperament;

(3) He exhibits outstanding citizenship by way of community and professional contributions;

(4) He is an exceptional individual who will enhance the competency, dignity and public perception of the bench.
______________________________________________________________

Alex was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. He left South Africa in 1982 and attended Columbia University in New York where he completed a Masters Degree in Psychology and then movecd to Pittsburgh 29 years ago.

His first 7 years in Pittsburgh were spent teaching English and Latin at Fox Chapel High School where he also served on the collective bargaining team and grievance committee for the local teachers' union. In his last year teaching in 1989 he was voted "Teacher of the Year" by the student body. While teaching full-time at Fox Chapel High School, he attended the night program at Duquesne University School of Law. After graduating from law school in 1988, he became an associate at the law firm of Zimmer Kunz PLLC where he practiced as a trial lawyer for the past 23 years in the area of civil litigation. He has been a partner at his firm for 15 years.

On a personal note, I met him when he was my daughter's English and Latin teacher at the local high school. His students thought the world of Mr. Bicket. I personally would like to see him end up on the state Supreme Court. If you're in Allegheny County, please vote for him!

[Curmudgeoness]

5. May I ask...

why should we care about the ratings of the bar association? In our county, the candidates for judge are all throwing that rating around (most highest ratings, most highest or qualified ratings, etc). But I don't know if there would not be a conflict of interest for lawyers to rate judges. I was thinking that if I were a lawyer, I would want a judge who would be more to my liking, not best for fairness or justice. I just don't get it.

[Divernan]

8. I used to practise law in Alleg. County so knew most of the judicial candidates.

My experience with these ratings is limited to the Allegheny County Bar which has a very large and varied membership. It could be quite different in smaller counties.

The attitude I heard, back in the 80's, from some of the worst and most incompetent candidates for county judge was:

Hey, most voters don't know anything about the judicial candidates, and vote based on ethnic last names, or sex, or apparent religious affiliation or just on the first four names on the ballot (when you have 10 candidates and can vote for four). So what have I got to lose? A small filing fee, and luck of the draw - whomever gets listed first or second on the ballot is a shoo in to get elected. (After Pete Flaherty was elected mayor of Pittsburgh, a totally unrelated Flaherty got himself elected to a county row office thanks to Pete's popularity with the voters. David Wecht would not be a candidate for Supreme Court if his father were not Cyril Wecht.)

And getting elected judge for ten year terms is very appealing to lawyers struggling to get by - I'm thinking of the solo practitioners who take any case they can get their hands on. Ever see those yellow pages/pennysaver ads offering to represent you in 10 different areas of law (DUI, bankruptcy, estates and trusts, tax law, medical malpractise, divorce, workers comp, unemployment, AND landlord/tenant) when you'd be better off with someone who focuses on one or two areas of law? When this kind of lawyer was elected judge, he or she tended to be lazy and incompetent, i.e, unable to follow legal intricacies - made lots of errors resulting in being reversed on appeal.

I recall in particular one case in which I was arguing the interpretation of 6 different commercial insurance policies in front of a judge who called a recess every day at 10 a.m. so he could retire to chambers to watch his favorite soap opera. I won a motion for summary judgement to get my client dismissed from the case by basically writing a simply stated and well-cited brief which the judge could follow and felt comfortable pretty much copying for his opinion. I started my oral argument saying, "This is really a very simple case, your honor (his face lit up with a smile of relief!) There are four exclusionary clauses and two definitions in the contract, any one of which is sufficient to preclude a claim against (name of my client).

Good lawyers can represent clients and argue cases without personally offending or attacking opposing counsel. But other lawyers get reputations for being pig-headed, arrogant, foul-mouthed, sexist, lying, bullying, egomaniacal &/or alcoholic. It was never a question of bar members giving high ranking to their buddies. It was giving low rankings to try to keep the incompetents and/or jerks off the bench. Because bad judges foul up an already over-burdened legal system and make life hell for all the lawyers with whom they deal.

I've been following the rankings in my county for years. There were times I would have given higher rankings to some lawyers, but when it comes down to "unqualified" or "not qualified at this time", I think the bar association has been correct in its assessments.

I analogize asking lawyers to rank judicial candidates, to asking medical personnel to recommend doctors. When I look for a specialist, I have found nurse practitioners and hospital nurses to be excellent resources. Because I don't care about bedside manner or social status, but look for the best diagnostician. When a Children's Hospital nurse told me about the pediatrician she saw sitting by his patient's bedside through the night waiting for a high fever to break, I could give a shit if some suburban mothers complained his waiting room was drab, or he kept them waiting half an hour for their kids' well-baby checkups.

I look at rankings by other groups of course - especially now that I'm retired so am not personally familiar with many of the candidates. I was delighted to see Alex Bicket get the highest endorsement because I know him to be a fine human being, hard working and extremely intelligent. Those qualities translate into being a good judge. I would also point out that he is currently a senior partner in a well-established firm. That means he'll be sacrificing 80 percent of his income for 10 years if he is elected to the bench. Good, old-fashioned public service.

[Curmudgeoness]

9. Thanks much for that explanation. I just wasn't sure how much weight

to give to those ratings. The medical professional recommending a doctor is a good analogy, but usually a medical professional does not have to work directly with the referred doctor after the recommendation. That was where I was stuck. But you made it clear to me that the bar association does have a horse in the race as far as working with a lousy judge. Thanks.

My sister is a nurse, and I would always ask her about what doctor to go to. But recommendations from another doctor is not always as easy. My mother got a recommendation for a surgeon who was supposedly good, but after the surgery, when she was having problems, every nurse was afraid to call this surgeon because he was so nasty that they were terrified of him. This was not a good situation. This surgeon was great with his colleagues, but not with the people who actually will be giving the care. You just never know what situation there will be.

[blue neen]

4. We have quite a race going on in this part of Westmoreland for District Magistrate...

it should be interesting.

I wish there was a source for unbiased opinion...we certainly can't count on the Trib or Valley News Dispatch (Richard Mellon Scaife papers).

[Curmudgeoness]

6. Does your League of Women Voters put out a voter's guide?

Our LWV does, and it is always printed in our newspaper the Sunday prior to an election. It is unbiased, usually asks a question of all candidates and at least you can get a sense of how they think by the answer you get. It also listed their qualifications and experience.

I prefer to go to debates or candidate question and answer panel to see them if I can. Our LWV usually sponsors these too, but too few people show up and that is the shame of it.

[blue neen]

7. That's a good question.

I'll see if that is a possibility.

Thanks for the suggestion! :)

[femmocrat]

10. Please see inside, blue neen.....

Do you have any recommendation for Sheriff? I can't decide among the 10 candidates when I have never heard of any of them!

How about Co. Commissioner? I'm voting for Kopas, of course. But do you know anything about the others? I think Tom Balya endorsed Lucia.

[mkz77655]

11. +1