Lynn Marks and Shira Goodman of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts (PMC) recently issued an opinion titled "Don't Let Anyone Tell You How To Vote." Despite the clear objective stated by the title, the column goes on to - you guessed it - tell you how to vote. 

PMC advises voters to look at the Pennsylvania Bar Association's (PBA) retention recommendations. The PBA's qualifying questionnaire asks judges to handpick ten cases for examination. Would a business allow an employee to handpick the portion of their duties they are evaluated on? The PBA has recommended all seven statewide appellate candidates be retained for another term. Isn't the PBA, by making retention recommendations, telling people how to vote? 

PMC directs voters to the League of Women Voters (LWV) website for more information on retention candidates. The LWV Voter's Guide, beyond listing basic biographical information, asks each statewide retention candidate one question regarding judicial independence. The question is interesting, but it is the only question asked. The LWV website also points to the PBA website, which tells voters how to vote. 

PMC also hopes that newspaper editorial boards and local bar associations make recommendations for voters to follow. Is that not also telling people how to vote? 

Finally, PMC's own website contains an extensive list of criteria it believes voters should consider when making a decision on retention candidates. Although PMC does not make any specific recommendations on individual candidates, it certainly is telling voters how to decide how to vote. 

Missing from the above-mentioned fray, however, is the proverbial elephant in the room. The topic none of these groups addresses is the one issue most important to all Pennsylvanians - the Constitution. Only PACleanSweep is focusing attention on this very non-partisan and non-political document. 

PMC attempts to denigrate PACleanSweep's 'Vote NO' effort as a "single-issue campaign" and a "litmus test" for judges. If our effort was focused on some partisan issue such as abortion, same-sex marriage or the war in Iraq, then such a position would indeed be inappropriate. But our state Constitution - which belongs to every single Pennsylvanian, regardless of party affiliation, religion, race, creed or gender - is an appropriate litmus test for all judges wishing to extend their tenure. 

In their oath of office, every judge up for retention swore to "support, uphold and defend" the Constitution before they promised anything else. As such, the Constitution should not only be included in these groups' judicial evaluations, it should be front and center. 

Why have none of the groups who wish to tell us how to vote asked: Does the Constitution mean what it says? This is the pivotal question of our time. The very legitimacy of government depends on the answer, yet PMC refuses to refer voters to the only group currently asking the question. Worse yet, PMC slams PACleanSweep for mentioning the elephant in the room. 

PMC calls PACleanSweep's effort "emotional rhetoric." Pennsylvanians aren't emotional - we're downright angry. We were ripped off. Robbed. Swindled. Deprived of our constitutional right to a deliberative legislative process. When we sought justice to right that wrong, the very judiciary we counted on for impartiality turned on us by acting in a self-serving manner. In doing so, the Court cast doubt upon every other right guaranteed by the Constitution. Is this a situation Pennsylvanians should not be angry about? 

Let's be clear: If judges received a pay raise in a legitimate manner, PACleanSweep would have no beef with current judicial salaries. But their actions regarding the pay raise - whether they ruled on it, filed suit to keep it or accepted the loot after the fact - speaks volumes about their fitness for duty on the bench. 

PMC and the PBA have a vested interest in not discussing the elephant in the room. By talking around it, they seek to maintain the status quo. By aiming squarely at the elephant, PACleanSweep seeks to point Pennsylvania in a new and better direction. 

In the end, when you go to vote on November 6, it's just you and a voting machine. No one will be looking over your shoulder. Indeed, you should not let anyone tell you how to vote. Nor should you let anyone tell you how to decide how to vote. Let your conscience be your guide. 
 

Russ Diamond is the founder and chairman of PACleanSweep, a non-partisan effort to reform state government in Pennsylvania.

PACleanSweep is a non-partisan effort dedicated to reforming state government in Pennsylvania. For more information, please visit www.PACleanSweep.com.

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