News

Distinguished Group to Participate in National Dialogue

January 27, 1999

Chief Justice of Pennsylvania John P. Flaherty has announced that a distinguished six-member delegation from Pennsylvania will participate in the first National Conference on Building Public Trust and Confidence in the Justice System from May 13-15 in Washington, D.C. The goal of the historic event is to create a national action plan to boost public trust and confidence by providing a sense of direction and encouragement to each state court system across the nation. About 300 people are expected to participate. Pennsylvania's delegation to the conference includes: · Phyllis W. Beck, Superior Court Senior Judge · Nancy M. Sobolevitch, Court Administrator of Pennsylvania · Leslie Miller, Pennsylvania Bar Association president · Lawrence Werner, Ketchum Public Relations managing director and member of the Judicial Council of Pennsylvania · Louis Teti, Pennsylvania Bar Association president-elect · Lynn Marks, Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts executive director Thomas B. Darr, deputy court administrator of Pennsylvania, is a member of a national planning committee that is facilitating the conference by, among other things, providing a list of issues for discussion that are common to most states based on public surveying. "Our participation in this conference is a recognition of how important it is to maintain public trust and confidence in an effective judicial system," the chief justice said. "In Pennsylvania's case, the conference will serve to build on the recent re-establishment of the Judicial Council of Pennsylvania and the ongoing work of the Pennsylvania Futures Commission on Justice in the 21st Century as indicators of the Judiciary's keen interest in this subject." Conference planning began in May 1998 with the creation of the national advisory group to identify key issues of concern to the judiciary and proposed strategies. The broad-based coalition of business, legal and grass-roots groups interested in judicial effectiveness began developing a plan for the conference to address those concerns. The Pennsylvania delegation will rely on some of the work already created by the Pennsylvania Futures Commission to assist with the development of a list of public trust concerns. The commission — which is chaired by Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Justice Stephen A. Zappala — is examining how to continue to have an efficient judicial system in a rapidly changing society. The Public Trust and Confidence conference will represent the culmination of three national meetings on the judiciary and the public. The first meeting, "Bulwarks of the Republic: Judicial Independence and Accountability in the American System of Justice," was held in December in Philadelphia during a productive gathering that included more than two dozen chief justices or their designees. Sponsors of the event include the National Center for State Courts, American Bar Association and League of Women Voters along with the Conference of Chief Justices and Conference of State Court Administrators. A subsequent conference is expected to be held next year.