Print
E-mail
Judge Allen Dogged By Abortion Pronouncement
By Bradley Vasoli, The Bulletin
Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Cheryl Lynn Allen, R, a candidate for state Supreme Court, is running as an outspoken pro-lifer, though she has declined to rule on certain past abortion cases.
Judge Allen began overseeing Juvenile Court hearings after winning election to a 10-year term on the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas in November 1991. She remained in the Juvenile Division until April 2004.
Juvenile Court judges have the duty to preside over hearings to determine if minors can obtain abortions without parental consent. The Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1989 requires an underage girl to get her parents’ permission if she opts to have an abortion. However, if she believes she is better situated to make that decision than her legal guardians, she can request a court hearing called a judicial bypass.
Judge Allen stopped ruling on those cases in the late 1990s. News reports during her unsuccessful 2003 state Supreme Court run said she thought her pro-life viewpoint might cloud her objectivity when deciding whether to let minors undergo abortions.
She said, however, her refusal to rule on those cases stems from problems she had with the judicial-bypass process. She said she would have preferred being able to learn the girls’ names and recalled that she was able to question them on a “very limited basis.”
“I am being asked to determine whether a child is mature enough to make a decision on her own,” she said. “That’s not something that I could realistically do under the circumstances.”
From 1999 to 2003, 354 of these abortion-consent cases came before the Allegheny County courts. Some observers say a decision not to rule on any of those cases would cast doubt on a judge’s ability to objectively rule on abortion issues if that judge is elected to the Supreme Court.
Duquesne University Law Professor Bruce Ledewitz said he has no position on Judge Allen’s candidacy and says judges who are unsure of their objectivity are often wise to recuse themselves from certain cases.
Mr. Ledewitz also said judges who remove themselves from judicial-bypass cases because they’re not confident in their objectivity are arguably indicating they can’t rule dispassionately on the legality of abortion.
“By recusing herself in these bypass cases, she may be suggesting that in abortion cases, she cannot decide in accordance with law,” he said. “If you feel you can’t even be fair on a bypass, how can you feel that you would be fair on the question of whether abortion should be a right or shouldn’t.”
The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision deprived state governments of the authority to prohibit the vast majority of abortions. But if a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court justices were to overturn that decision, state courts would likely have to decide whether abortion restrictions are constitutional. And cases could come up concerning some of the moderate curbs on abortion that Pennsylvania has already enacted.
Both of Judge Allen’s primary opponents are pro-life. One of them, Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Paul Panepinto, hasn’t been assigned any judicial bypass cases. His campaign said he would’ve heard them if he was asked.
“Nothing like that has come before him,” campaign representative Paul Towhey said. “If a case was assigned to him, he would have to hear it.”
Judge Allen’s other Republican opponent, Superior Court Judge Joan Orie Melvin, also said she has not presided over any judicial bypass cases, save one about eight years ago. A three-judge panel of the Superior Court heard a case in which a lower-court judge determined a particular teenage girl needed to get parental consent. Her two colleagues overturned that judgment, but she agreed with the Common Pleas Court that consent was required.
Judge Orie Melvin, who has the endorsement of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, said judges who decline to decide abortion cases on a lower court would have a hard time arguing they could rule on them on a higher court.
“Once you disqualify yourself, that follows you as a judge,” she said. “It’s only fair for the litigants on both sides.”
Some pro-lifers take a different view. Jenkintown-based attorney Joseph Stanton said he thinks its understandable some judges recuse themselves from bypass cases because they do not want to open themselves up to the possibility of being responsible for the death of an unborn child.
“If the judge grants the petition, the baby will die,” he said. “No ifs, ands or buts about it.”
Mr. Stanton said a judge who removes himself or herself from bypass cases might still be poised to rule objectively on the constitutionality of abortion laws.
But the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation’s legislative director Charlene Bashore said legal counsel in an abortion case could attempt to use past decisions like Judge Allen’s to disqualify her from ruling on it.
“Someone could raise it as an issue and then it would be incumbent on Judge Allen, I think, to explain,” she said.
Bradley Vasoli can be reached at bvasoli@thebulletin.us
Judge Allen began overseeing Juvenile Court hearings after winning election to a 10-year term on the Allegheny Court of Common Pleas in November 1991. She remained in the Juvenile Division until April 2004.
Juvenile Court judges have the duty to preside over hearings to determine if minors can obtain abortions without parental consent. The Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act of 1989 requires an underage girl to get her parents’ permission if she opts to have an abortion. However, if she believes she is better situated to make that decision than her legal guardians, she can request a court hearing called a judicial bypass.
Judge Allen stopped ruling on those cases in the late 1990s. News reports during her unsuccessful 2003 state Supreme Court run said she thought her pro-life viewpoint might cloud her objectivity when deciding whether to let minors undergo abortions.
She said, however, her refusal to rule on those cases stems from problems she had with the judicial-bypass process. She said she would have preferred being able to learn the girls’ names and recalled that she was able to question them on a “very limited basis.”
“I am being asked to determine whether a child is mature enough to make a decision on her own,” she said. “That’s not something that I could realistically do under the circumstances.”
From 1999 to 2003, 354 of these abortion-consent cases came before the Allegheny County courts. Some observers say a decision not to rule on any of those cases would cast doubt on a judge’s ability to objectively rule on abortion issues if that judge is elected to the Supreme Court.
Duquesne University Law Professor Bruce Ledewitz said he has no position on Judge Allen’s candidacy and says judges who are unsure of their objectivity are often wise to recuse themselves from certain cases.
Mr. Ledewitz also said judges who remove themselves from judicial-bypass cases because they’re not confident in their objectivity are arguably indicating they can’t rule dispassionately on the legality of abortion.
“By recusing herself in these bypass cases, she may be suggesting that in abortion cases, she cannot decide in accordance with law,” he said. “If you feel you can’t even be fair on a bypass, how can you feel that you would be fair on the question of whether abortion should be a right or shouldn’t.”
The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision deprived state governments of the authority to prohibit the vast majority of abortions. But if a majority of the U.S. Supreme Court justices were to overturn that decision, state courts would likely have to decide whether abortion restrictions are constitutional. And cases could come up concerning some of the moderate curbs on abortion that Pennsylvania has already enacted.
Both of Judge Allen’s primary opponents are pro-life. One of them, Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Paul Panepinto, hasn’t been assigned any judicial bypass cases. His campaign said he would’ve heard them if he was asked.
“Nothing like that has come before him,” campaign representative Paul Towhey said. “If a case was assigned to him, he would have to hear it.”
Judge Allen’s other Republican opponent, Superior Court Judge Joan Orie Melvin, also said she has not presided over any judicial bypass cases, save one about eight years ago. A three-judge panel of the Superior Court heard a case in which a lower-court judge determined a particular teenage girl needed to get parental consent. Her two colleagues overturned that judgment, but she agreed with the Common Pleas Court that consent was required.
Judge Orie Melvin, who has the endorsement of the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, said judges who decline to decide abortion cases on a lower court would have a hard time arguing they could rule on them on a higher court.
“Once you disqualify yourself, that follows you as a judge,” she said. “It’s only fair for the litigants on both sides.”
Some pro-lifers take a different view. Jenkintown-based attorney Joseph Stanton said he thinks its understandable some judges recuse themselves from bypass cases because they do not want to open themselves up to the possibility of being responsible for the death of an unborn child.
“If the judge grants the petition, the baby will die,” he said. “No ifs, ands or buts about it.”
Mr. Stanton said a judge who removes himself or herself from bypass cases might still be poised to rule objectively on the constitutionality of abortion laws.
But the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation’s legislative director Charlene Bashore said legal counsel in an abortion case could attempt to use past decisions like Judge Allen’s to disqualify her from ruling on it.
“Someone could raise it as an issue and then it would be incumbent on Judge Allen, I think, to explain,” she said.
Bradley Vasoli can be reached at bvasoli@thebulletin.us
 |
||
| Poll Finds Specter Down 21 Points to Toomey |
Reader Comments
The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of thebulletin.us.
You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.
Registered users sign in here: |
Become a Registered User |
