Deal Could Restock State Supreme Court

Governor will have to fill seats formerly held by Castille, McCaffery.

Seamus McCaffery retired this week. Ronald Castille must take mandatory retirement at the end of the year. That’s going to leave the Pennsylvania Supreme Court short of bodies.

Or not. TribLive reports on a potential bipartisan deal to fill those seats early in the next gubernatorial administration:

Court appointees nominated by governors require a two-thirds vote in the 50-member Senate to win confirmation.

The Senate is expected to remain in Republican control after the Nov. 4 election, but Democrat votes would be needed to meet the requirement.

“I expect we’ll see a Republican nominated to replace Castille and a Democrat for McCaffery,” said Moe Coleman, director emeritus of the Institute of Politics at the University of Pittsburgh.

One possible alternative scenario: Gov. Corbett loses the election Tuesday, but still tries to appoint new Supreme Court justices before he leaves office January 20th. Corbett’s office refused to address “theoretical scenarios.”