Welcome to PMCAction
PMCAction is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that lobbies for court reform. PMCAction is affiliated with the nonprofit organization Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts.
Tell the House Judiciary Committee You Support Merit Selection
Now is the time for action on Merit Selection! Please contact the members of the House Judiciary Committee and ask them to vote YES on sending Merit Selection Bills (H.B. 1815 and H.B. 1816) to the full House for consideration.
The vote is scheduled for next Tuesday, May 22.
Public Hearing on Merit Selection in PA:
The PA House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on Merit Selection bills HB 1815 and 1816 on Thursday, March 1st. The JudgesOnMerit coverage of the hearing may be accessed here. The testimony submitted by the presenters at the hearing is also available.
PMCAction works to educate the public and legislators of Pennsylvania about the need to improve and reform the Commonwealth's judicial system through the adoption of various reforms, including merit selection of appellate judges.
PMCAction becomes active when educational efforts about the courts and court reform expand into direct and indirect lobbying to effect meaningful reform. Currently, PMCAction is focused on achieving merit selection for the three statewide appellate courts. The new blog JudgesOnMerit.org will follow the progress of the legislation and chronicle the progress of the judicial selection reform effort.
PMCAction depends on the generous support of those committed to court reform, particularly judicial selection reform. The pace of change is slow, but it requires a steady infusion of time, energy and funds.
Amending the state constitution is a lengthy process. If the current merit selection bills pass the legislature by the summer recess, we will have vaunted the first hurdle on the way to amending the constitution. The next step will require passage during the 2009-2010 legislation session, which would be followed by a public referendum. This requires intensive effort - in educational outreach, coalition building, public relations and media campaigns. This, of course, requires financial resources.
Please consider making a donation to support the efforts of PMCAction to improve our courts by changing the way we select our appellate judges. The time is now.
