Fight brewing over court nominations

The state’s chief justice is concerned about 3-3 deadlocks in the Supreme Court.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Republican leaders in the Pennsylvania Senate are sending Gov. Ed Rendell signals that his nominees to fill temporary openings on the state’s appellate courts are not acceptable, setting the stage for a potential fight.

In a letter Thursday, the Senate’s top two Republicans recommended that Rendell withdraw the four nominees and complained about the picks, noting that all four are white men from Philadelphia or Pittsburgh.

“We encourage you to withdraw the current package and make a fresh start by joining in a bipartisan collaboration designed to bring the appellate bench to full strength and at the earliest possible time,” wrote Sens. Joe Scarnati of Jefferson County and Dominic Pileggi of Delaware County.

The Senate Republicans’ position also puts them at odds with the Supreme Court’s chief justice, Ronald D. Castille, who wrote them in February to vouch for the nominees and ask for speedy confirmation in light of the 3-3 deadlocks that are possible on a six-member Supreme Court.

In addition, the Senate GOP’s stance on the judicial nominees only lengthens the list of major disputes between the caucus and the Democratic governor — among them health insurance and energy.

A spokesman for Rendell said he did not know about the letter and could not immediately respond.

Rendell nominated the four men in January, generating a cool reception from Senate Republicans who complained that Rendell had sought, but ignored, their advice on whom to pick.

Two are Democrats, two are Republicans and all but one have served on a state appellate court. They are subject to Senate confirmation, and all four have been going office to office to meet with senators.

To fill a two-year slot on the Supreme Court, Rendell nominated James Gardner Colins, a college pal who resigned from the lower Commonwealth Court in January after a 24-year tenure. He was tapped to succeed Ralph J. Cappy, the former chief justice who stepped down Jan. 6.

The other openings are on the lower Superior and Commonwealth courts.

All four nominees, if confirmed by the Senate, would serve until 2010, when permanent successors elected in 2009 are sworn in for 10-year terms.

The Senate’s 25 legislative days to confirm or reject the nominees will expire in June. Without a vote, the nominees can assume their posts.

But Scarnati and Pileggi pointed out that one Superior Court nominee, Robert Daniels, recently turned 70, the court’s mandatory retirement age. And they said Colins might be barred from hearing cases that are appealed to the Supreme Court after Colins issued decisions on them when he served in the Commonwealth Court.

Told of that concern in January, Colins said he expected he would have to sit out only a few cases.