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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 4, 2013 10:06 AM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative W. Curtis Thomas |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Reforms to the Traffic Court of Philadelphia |
| In the near future, I plan to introduce legislation that would address myriad concerns and challenges facing the Traffic Court of Philadelphia, which has been plagued with numerous charges against the judicial conduct of some of its chief officers – traffic court judges. The Traffic Court of Philadelphia sees a high volume of cases annually, which supports the need for this level court. Within the Pennsylvania court system, traffic court is one of the minor courts in the First Judicial District. This level court is presided over not by lawyers, but by individuals who are elected and can pass a qualifying exam. The traffic court is not a court of record. There are very few qualifications in place to serve as a traffic court judge. One needs only to mount a successful campaign to secure the position. There is no educational qualification for what is often viewed as a position that wields some degree of authority and provides a lucrative salary. My legislation would alter the makeup of the court from its current seven judge complement to a court that is presided over by a president judge and six masters. Traffic Court Masters would be required to have at least a bachelor’s degree, no outstanding parking or moving violations, possess a valid driver’s license, pass a certification examination and not have been convicted of or pleaded guilty to a criminal offense that is higher than a summary. Finally, the individual must be a resident of the city of Philadelphia for a period of not less than four years and stand for election to the position. The term would remain six years, as is currently the term for traffic judges. Masters would be responsible to conduct hearings in cases before traffic courts and then present their findings to the municipal court for final disposition of the cases. This system would streamline all cases before traffic court, without placing an undue burden upon municipal court. Finally, it would continue the traffic court as an administrative court with final conclusions of law being given by a municipal court. This would serve to address allegations of judges making and accepting third-party requests for preferential treatment. There are two proposals from the Pennsylvania Senate addressing this issue. I am offering an alternative because one of the Senate proposals (SB 333) would not become reality until 2015 and the other (SB334) would impose unworkable standards and transfer immediate cases to the municipal court, which would aggravate an existing overburdened court system. My legislation does not require constitutional amendment, and therefore could be enacted and reforms enforced within the present two-year legislative session. Please join me in co-sponsoring this legislation. |
Introduced as HB1025