The Philadelphia Bar Association Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention on Monday released its 2023 slate of recommendations for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia Municipal Court and statewide appellate courts for candidates based in Philadelphia.
“Our Judicial Commission is one of the true gems of the Philadelphia Bar Association, making a tangible impact in the evaluation of candidates for judicial office, as well as judges seeking retention on the bench. The Commission’s nonpartisan ratings are a critical source of information for voters,” said Chancellor Marc J. Zucker. “Judges have enormous power. The Commission members and investigative volunteers willingly donate their time to rigorously vet candidates because we believe that electing qualified judges is essential to ensuring a fair, impartial and effective justice system.
“The respect and deference given to the Commission’s ratings is clear,” Zucker continued. “For the past two judicial election cycles, in 2019 and 2021, only judicial candidates rated ‘Highly Recommended’ or ‘Recommended’ by the Judicial Commission have been elected to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.”
The 2023 recommendations are currently as follows (additional recommendations will be added):
Supreme Court
Highly Recommended: Hon. Daniel D. McCaffery
Superior Court
Highly Recommended: Hon. Timika Lane
Recommended: Hon. Patrick F. Dugan
Commonwealth Court
Recommended: Hon. Matthew Wolf
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas
Highly Recommended: Chelsey A. Lightsey, Hon. John R. Padova Jr., Natasha Taylor-Smith, Kay Yu
Recommended: Wade Albert, William Braveman, Jessica R. Brown, Melissa M. Francis, Damaris L. Garcia, Hon. Kenneth L. Joel, Hon. Brian McLaughlin, Caroline M. Turner, Hon. Tamika Washington, Samantha Williams
Not Recommended: Qawi Abdul-Rahman, Joseph Green
Philadelphia Municipal Court
Recommended: Melissa M. Francis, Colleen Osborne, Barbara Thomson
Not Recommended: Rania Major
The Judicial Commission, which has been issuing judicial candidate recommendations for more than 40 years, is made up of 36 members from a diverse set of legal and community organizations. In 2023, nearly 140 volunteers aided the Commission’s work by serving on the investigative teams that are assigned to do due diligence on each candidate. Each investigative team includes a non-lawyer and the Commission has designated seats for community members.
“It is important to us that the Commission and investigative teams be reflective of the diversity in our City and within the legal community,” said James P. Faunes, chair of the Commission. “Philadelphians will be inundated this election cycle with information about the mayoral and City Council races, but the judicial races should not be overlooked. The rulings that these judges will make will have a significant impact on both the individual and community level.”
After submitting an extensive questionnaire and writing samples, judicial candidates are assigned an investigative team that researches their background. This year, the teams spent at least 1,900 hours evaluating 42 candidates (some of whom ultimately opted not to pursue election.) Each of the five-person teams conducted a minimum of 20 interviews about each candidate with personal contacts, colleagues, community leaders, adversaries and judges before whom the candidate has appeared.
The investigative team leader presents the team’s findings to the Commission, which then interviews the candidate directly. The Commission members then vote by secret ballot and according to a set of 10 criteria whether to assign one of three ratings: “Highly Recommended,” “Recommended” or “Not Recommended.” In order for a candidate to receive a “Highly Recommended” rating, 80% of Commission members present must vote in favor. This year, the Commission members spent more than 25 hours on Zoom calls conducting interviews, deliberating candidates’ qualifications and issuing recommendations.
The Association’s Campaign for Qualified Judges is mounting a comprehensive voter education campaign to publicize these recommendations. For the first time since 2019, the Campaign for Qualified Judges will have volunteers at the polls on primary day on May 16. The Campaign will also again mount robust social media and direct mail campaigns to likely voters. The Campaign’s 2021 digital campaign reached 43,990 people on Facebook and Instagram, and generated more than 10,000 clicks to the judicial ratings page on the Philadelphia Bar Association website
“The Campaign aims to get in front of as many voters and influential groups that seek to influence voters via endorsements and other recommendations as possible to explain the Commission’s objective process and answer questions,” said Matthew Olesh, chair of the Campaign for Qualified Judges.
Visit ElectQualifiedJudges.com for the most up-to-date information on the 2023 slate of candidates.
###
The Philadelphia Bar Association, founded in 1802, is the preeminent metropolitan association of lawyers in the United States. It is a keystone in the ongoing developments of the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania legal systems. With more than 200 years of dedicated service to stand on, the Philadelphia Bar Association is firmly rooted in the Philadelphia community as a steady and reliable bellwether. To learn more about the association, visit her
