Superior Court of Pennsylvania

The Superior Court of Pennsylvania is one of two important courts in Pennsylvania that help decide on appeals. An appeal is when someone asks a higher court to review a decision made by a lower court. This court works to make sure that decisions from lower courts are fair and follow the law.

There are two main appellate courts in Pennsylvania: the Superior Court and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. The Superior Court is based in Harrisburg, which is the capital city of Pennsylvania. This court plays a big role in ensuring justice by checking decisions from lower courts and making sure they are correct.

Jurisdiction

The Superior Court of Pennsylvania listens to appeals in criminal and most civil cases from the Courts of Common Pleas. It also handles cases about children and families. Most of these appeals are decided just by reading written arguments. But if people ask to speak about their case, three judges will listen in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, or Pittsburgh. Sometimes, nine judges will all sit together to decide a case. Special groups of judges may also meet in other parts of Pennsylvania, but there is only one Superior Court for the whole state.

Appeals to the Superior Court

When people want to challenge a decision made by a lower court in Pennsylvania, they can appeal to the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. This process follows special rules called the Pennsylvania Rules of Appellate Procedure.

There are mainly three types of decisions that can be appealed: final decisions, certain important intermediate decisions, and some special appeals allowed by law. To start an appeal, the person appealing must file a document called a "Notice of Appeal" in the lower court. The lower court then prepares a full record of the case and sends it to the Superior Court for review.

Opinions

The Superior Court of Pennsylvania writes many decisions, usually between 10 to 25 each week. These decisions help set rules for other courts to follow. The court prefers to use a special font called Verdana for its writings and asks others to use the same font too. The court also pays close attention to details, fixing small mistakes like punctuation and spelling when it talks about other courts' decisions. This shows how careful the Superior Court is with every case it handles.

Controversy

In 2013, a former judge named Joan Orie Melvin was found guilty of using her court staff to help with her campaigns for a higher court position. She worked as a judge in the Superior Court from 1998 to 2010. As a result, she was ordered to stay at home for three years, with some exceptions, and also had to pay fines. A judge also asked her to write apologies to other judges and her staff. In 2020, her conviction was supported by another court, which said she had misused public money for her own benefit.

Judges

Superior Court judges in Pennsylvania are chosen by voters across the whole state. They serve for 10 years before facing a vote where people decide if they should stay in their jobs. Judges must stop being active judges when they turn 75, but they can still help as Senior Judges if approved by the top court in Pennsylvania.

Senior judges