PGHIMC - Pittsburgh Independent Media Center

PA Supreme Court Election in November: What you may not know about candidate Max Baer
by Mary Tuesday, Oct. 07, 2003 at 12:08 PM
mary@indypgh.org

for Pittsburgh Indymedia: You may have heard of "The Fighting Judge" or seen smiling teddy bear faces on lawn signs, but have you heard anything about what this judge has really done?

Family Division Performance:

Max Baer was administratively removed from a prior post as head judge of Allegheny County Family Division following a bad decision and repeated refusal to correct matters. In 1998, Baer allowed a man who had been convicted of repeatedly molesting and of impregnating his own daughter years before, to be a foster parent for a 5-year-old girl, in preparation for adopting her. Despite repeated requests by CYS, and despite the fact that such placement was against the law, Baer was not willing to order the girl removed, citing his conviction that the man was currently a good father. Baer was joined in his refusal to move the girl by then Common Pleas Judge Patrick McFalls.

(Read about this case:
http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19980311bcys4.asp
http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19980611bfive4.asp
http://www.post-gazette.com/regionstate/19980714cys4.asp )

Subsequently, in 1999, Baer was administratively transferred from his position as head of Family Division to a more junior position in the Civil Division, in which he has served since.

Criminal Law Experience:

In his campaign website, Baer purports to quote the Pennsylvania Bar Association: “While on the Court, he has served in the Criminal, Civil, and Family Divisions” (http://www.maxbaerforsupremecourt.com/max_endorse.asp ). What the Pa Bar actually says is that “he has served in the Juvenile, Family, and Civil Divisions”- Juvenile Court being a part of the Family Division (http://www.pabar.org/pbajecprimary03.shtml ). In an email, Louann Bell, Committee Relations Coordinator of the Pa Bar (louann.bell@pabar.org) says, “there is an error in Judge Baer’s website regarding the PBA’s descriptive paragraph and recommendation.”

The PA Law Weekly’s quote from Baer suggests much less experience in criminal law than does Baer’s website: “Let me say this—I don’t know very much about criminal [law]. I never practiced criminal law as a lawyer and I never sat in criminal court as a judge.” (PA Law Weekly, July 18th, 1994).

Administrative Experience- Family Division:

You may know someone who has experienced delays in getting child support, did not get mandated child support, or who was erroneously charged with contempt of court for nonpayment of child support, despite having paid. Although Allegheny County had a period of 10 years and 95% of federal funds to implement a modern, centralized collection system for collection of child support payments, it was not until Allegheny County Family Division was faced with fines and penalties by the federal government, that the system was finally implemented.

The judges of the PA State Supreme Court are the final arbiters, at the state level, for appeals of the decisions of the lower courts.

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