Royce Morris, a contender for a seat on the Court of Common Pleas, speaks at the NAACP candidates forum on Thursday, Oct. 26.
If you’re summoned to traffic court, cited for disorderly conduct, or arrested for murder in Dauphin County in 2018, you may soon get to vote for the judge who will try your case.
Dauphin County voters will go to the polls on Nov. 7 to elect judges for the County Court of Common Pleas and Magisterial District courts. Six judicial candidates made their cases at a forum hosted by the Harrisburg NAACP Thursday evening, which drew more than 75 registered voters to the AFCSME Conference Center on 43rd Street in Swatara Township.
Three of the four candidates running for the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas – Royce Morris, Ed Marsico, and Lori Serratelli – appeared at Thursday’s forum. They and John McNally, who did not attend the forum, are vying for three six-year seats.
Morris and Marsico each had strong bipartisan support in the May primaries, which positions them well for the general election. Some observers believe the third open seat will be close between Serratelli and McNally, who in May received 16,204 and 16,447 primary votes, respectively.
Speaking on Thursday, Serratelli billed herself as an advocate for families and the working poor. Before Gov. Tom Wolf appointed her to a judicial seat in June 2016, Serratelli worked for 38 years as an attorney with an emphasis in family law. She said she is committed to helping litigants who cannot afford legal representation.
Also present were the two candidates in the only contested Magisterial District Justice (MDJ) race. Hanif Johnson and Claude Phipps are both vying for the seat in District 12-1-05, which covers parts of Allison Hill, Paxtang and Penbrook.
The candidates already faced off in the May primary, and Phipps cross-filed as a Republican after Johnson defeated him for the Democratic nod.
Judicial races may not be crowded this election cycle, but they are critically important, said incumbent MDJ David O’Leary.
MDJs are the first point of contact for many people entering the judicial system. They hand out sentences or fines for misdemeanor crimes, preside over traffic court and set bail after arrests.
They also perform preliminary hearings for criminal cases, which means they decide whether or not a case continues to trial.
The duties and sentencing power of MDJs give them a great deal of discretion, and O’Leary said voters must elect judges who will not abuse it.
“In most cases, I can fine you $1 or $300,” O’Leary said. “Our judicial system places burdens on poor people, and I’m aware of it. You need an MDJ with not just fairness, but compassion.”
An attorney with more 40 years of litigation experience, O’Leary was appointed to his seat in South Allison Hill and downtown Harrisburg by Gov. Tom Wolf last August. He’s also something of an anomaly in the local county courts—one of only three Dauphin County MDJs with a law degree.
Pennsylvania is one of 22 states that allows non-lawyers to preside over minor courts. Across the commonwealth, roughly 75 percent of MDJs are not trained as lawyers, according to the Standard-Speaker (Hazelton, Pa.). Many are retired or former police officers, and others were small business owners or civil servants.
MDJs serve six-year terms and earn an annual salary of $88,290. Candidates must be 21 years old, live in their magisterial district and pass a 400-hour certification course before they can take a judicial seat.
That course is meant to equip candidates with everything they need to know on the bench, but the learning curve can be steep. Hanif Johnson passed his certification test on his first try, but when I asked him how he would use community service as a sentencing tool in his courtroom, he did not know that he was allowed to do so.
In Dauphin County, judicial aspirations often run in the family. MDJ Barbara Pianka holds the seat formerly occupied by her husband, James Pianka. George Zozos and his son, Paul, both currently preside over district courtrooms.
