We need your help to defeat one of the biggest threats to democracy we have ever seen in our nearly five decades working in the Commonwealth.
HB38 is a constitutional amendment that seeks to destroy the independence of Pennsylvania’s appellate courts through judicial gerrymandering. It is a danger to democracy. That’s why we joined more than 100 organizations in publicly opposing constitutional amendment HB38.
Judicial Gerrymandering: A Danger to Democracy
Trump may be gone from office but Trumpism lives on in Pennsylvania, where more than half the Republicans in the state Legislature tried to block the state’s electoral votes from going to President Biden.
Now some of those same extremist lawmakers are advancing a constitutional amendment designed to destroy judicial independence in our state by gerrymandering all appellate courts in Pennsylvania, including the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which blocked efforts to overturn the presidential election. HB38 (R-Diamond) also targets Commonwealth Court and Superior Court.
Learn more about this judicial gerrymandering scheme here.
Essentially, these state legislators are trying to seize power to manipulate how voters can choose judges, giving themselves too much influence over the branch of government that will inevitably have to rule on the constitutionality and meaning of the legislation they pass.
Governor Wolf cannot veto HB38 because it is a constitutional amendment.
HB38: Status Update
Pennsylvanians are facing a raging pandemic, a racial justice crisis, and the biggest recession in a century, but Pennsylvania’s extremist lawmakers are undeterred: They are prioritizing gerrymandering the courts.
Unfortunately, HB38 already passed out of the Judiciary Committee by a vote of 13-12. During that meeting, the Committee explicitly rejected a proposal to call for public input.
The General Assembly does not want you to have a say in this hostile takeover of our courts, but you need to speak up. A vote on HB38 could happen in the state House of Representatives as early as this week.
Please contact your state representatives today in every way possible and tell them to vote NO on the judicial gerrymandering constitutional amendment HB38.
The Women’s Law Project is a public interest law center in Pennsylvania devoted to advancing and defending the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people in Pennsylvania and beyond.
January 2021: Our physical offices are still closed due to the pandemic but we are OPEN and working to serve your needs. Contact us here. Sign up for WLP’s Action Alerts. Stay up to date by following us on twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
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