Impeachment of state justice?

A go-nowhere but nonetheless chilling effort to impeach a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice, the handiwork of a cadre of Republican state legislators, amounts to an attempt at judicial tampering. These rogue lawmakers should be put in their place — a place of shame — by their colleagues in the General Assembly.

Court leaders, both federal and state, as well as professional legal organizations have roundly and rightly condemned the impeachment drive against Justice David N. Wecht. The drive — House Resolution No. 1044 — was launched by Rep. Frank Ryan of Lebanon County and bolstered by nearly three dozen GOP legislators including Eric Nelson, Greensburg; Daryl Metcalfe, Cranberry; Donald “Bud” Cook, Washington;

Jim Marshall, Big Beaver;

Eric Davanzo, Southmoreland; Cris Dush, Jefferson; and Ryan Warner, Lemont Furnace.

Rep. Ryan contends that four of Justice Wecht’s legal opinions amount to “misbehavior in office,” breaching judicial ethics and overstepping into the legislative domain. The truth is just the opposite. Rep. Ryan and his cohort are failing to stay in their own lane and the breach of ethics is theirs. It is no coincidence that Justice Wecht, elected to the bench in 2015, is a Democrat.

Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor, who was elected to the court as a Republican in 1997, has declared the impeachment effort an “affront to judicial independence.” U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the

Middle District of Pennsylvania, also slammed the legislators’ move, saying, “This challenge...is a direct threat to a bedrock of our constitutional democracy — an independent judiciary.” Judge Jones served in the Republican administration of Gov. Tom Ridge before he was appointed by Republican President George W. Bush to the federal bench in 2002. He is the co-chairman of Pennsylvania’s Judicial Independence Commission.

The four decisions in question deal with redistricting of the state’s congressional districts, Pittsburgh’s mandate of paid sick leave, mail-in ballot drop boxes, and Gov. Tom Wolf’s COVID-19 emergency order. The details of the cases are moot. Justice Wecht did what he was elected to do and what he is paid to do: He ruled on legal cases that came before him.

The fact that these rogue Republicans didn’t like the rulings should inspire them to do what they were elected to do and what they are paid to do: pass legislation that changes the landscapes in question. If they can muster the necessary support. And that’s a big if.

What they should not do is attempt to intimidate another branch of government.

Justice Wecht issued a statement: “We are a nation of laws, not a nation of mobs. When anyone, including legislators, attempts to intimidate our judges, they threaten our liberties and the rule of law. It is ironic that here in Pennsylvania, the cradle of our nation’s liberty, some forget our history and the tradition of judicial independence that has safeguarded our people’s freedoms.”

Nicely put.