EDITORIAL

The Philadelphia Inquirer

Monday, May 2, 2011

Philadelphia primary voters will face a bewildering

number of candidates vying for one of 11 seats on
the city courts, while two low-profile contests for
the Pennsylvania appellate courts play out at the
polls statewide on May 17.
The Inquirer Editorial Board offers the following recommendations:

As the workhorse of the appellate bench, handling all criminal and

civil appeals apart from those pertaining to government issues,
Superior Court would benefit from someone who has spent time on
the bench. In the contested Republican primary, a decade-long veteran on the city's Common
Pleas Court, PAULA A. PATRICK, 43, fits the bill. She has extensive experience in Family
Court and was cited by the state bar as "knowledgeable," "fair," and "committed to assuring
equal justice." For the past year, she has ably presided in the city's gun court.

Running for Commonwealth Court - which hears government- and election-related appeals - two
Bucks County attorneys are the best choices to square off in the fall. Democrat KATHRYN
BOOCKVAR, 42, brings legal-services agency experience and was a senior attorney for
election law at a nonpartisan national civil rights organization. The state bar association cited her
"legal ability, experience, integrity and temperament." Republican ANNE E. COVEY, 51, has
been a member of the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board since 2002 and offers experience as
counsel to businesses on employment and labor relations issues. The bar noted her "good
character, integrity and an excellent work ethic."

Among standouts seeking a Common Pleas Court seat, veteran personal-injury litigator DREW
E. ALDINGER, 39, has been singled out for his pro bono work and rated highly by peers. As a
Philadelphia prosecutor for 25 years, CHARLES A. EHRLICH, 57, has handled every type of
criminal case and recently served as a key adviser on important city court reforms. Since mid-
2009, Princeton graduate, former city jury commissioner, and prosecutor ROGER F. GORDON
JR., 59, has served as an appointed city judge. As a solo practitioner and ordained
minister, VINCENT L. JOHNSON, 54, believes judges should be required to undergo ethics
training.

Also, criminal-defense lawyer JONATHAN Q. IRVINE, 44, sits as a hearing master in the city
courts. BARBARA A. MCDERMOTT, 55, was a deputy attorney general and city prosecutor
before embarking on criminal-defense work, which has included serving as a court-appointed
counsel in death-penalty cases. CAROLYN H. NICHOLS, 55, has been a city lawyer, City
Council aide, and director of the city's minority business council.
Also, a first career that included juvenile probation work in Chester should give veteran city
prosecutor DIANA ANHALT, 42, special insights into the courts. One-time Bronx
prosecutor SAYDE J. LADOV, 55, has broad experience, including a stint as 2009 chancellor of
the Philadelphia Bar Association. And MARIA McLAUGHLIN, 44, rose to become chief
assistant during two decades in the District Attorney's Office.

For Municipal Court, MARVIN L. WILLIAMS, 59, who has handled cases as a master in
Family Court, has the edge.