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“Even if you’re not involved in a case, it’s important to care who is sitting in these seats,” says Judge Jill Beck. For the past year, Judge Beck has traveled throughout all 67 counties of Pennsylvania, in a campaign to be elected to the state’s Superior Court. She joins Cuckoo 4 Politics to explain what goes on in all four levels of the court system – something that even lawyers find confusing at times. She also explains what judges do not, or should not, do. Despite many peoples’ growing fear of partisanship within the legal system, judges are not meant to promote or overturn precedents but to make decisions based on the evidence put before them, and to make sure justice is served and upheld.
A self-described “born neutral,” she herself has drafted 500 successful decisions under Superior and Supreme Court Judges and Justices. She has the highest recommendation from the Bar Association, a deciding board free from political partisanship. Placing an “R” or a “D” behind a judge’s name is a mistake, she warns. It compromises the motivations of an already reluctant voting populace, who may not realize that judges swayed by politics will only work in their favor until the vote swings the other way. It also raises the question of how those judges who owe their position to political backing maintain their impartiality.
The concerns of Pennsylvanians reflect the concerns of Americans. On today’s episode, Judge Beck explains how she balances her personal and professional life, her most memorable cases dealing with injustice that keep her motivated and why she and Michael actually enjoy jury duty.
“I always tell people, the courts serve as a check and balance not only on our legislative and executive branches of government, but also in the courts below. The things that are coming before the superior court really affect people's lives. Because we're talking about someone's right to be free from incarceration, their right to parent their children, the right to access and make healthcare decisions on their own, the right to their wealth. Their safety. Their home. Their inheritance. These are big picture things that affect everyday Pennsylvanians even if you're not the litigants involved in the case, because our courts are interpreting our Constitution and our statutes. A law that did not adversely affect you yesterday, very well could adversely affect you tomorrow. So, it's important to care who's sitting in these seats.” (13:51 | Judge Beck)
“A lot of people are looking at our courts and seeing them as just a third political arm of the government, and not as the fair, impartial and apolitical branch that it should be.” (21:06 | Judge Beck)
“I always tell people, when you vote, you're investing in your community. And when you do vote, they also put you into the jury pool. And that's just showing that I, the citizen, have an active role in my community. And I could weigh in on that decision. It's not just elected officials.” (26:08 | Michael)
“There is no such thing – or there shouldn't be – as a Democratic judge or Republican judge. We're just judges, we have to do the job, give every single case the time, the effort and the energy to ensure that the facts were correctly found and supported by the trial court. That the law was correctly and faithfully applied in every single case. It isn't brain surgery, truly. But it's an incredibly important job.” (30:48 | Judge Beck)
“Seeing injustice, seeing someone hurt, seeing someone have their rights violated, that motivates me to do the job, to do it right, and to make sure Pennsylvanians–that people–are protected, that they get the justice that they deserve. My goal truly is for our courts to be a place where justice can be for all.” (36:39 | Judge Beck)
Links
Connect with Jill Beck:
@ElectJillBeck
https://www.instagram.com/cuckoo_4_politics/
