Supreme Court justice plans to step down

HARRISBURG -- Supreme Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman, who survived a retention vote last year despite voter backlash over a state pay raise, said Friday that she will leave the court at the end of the year.

"Sometimes, it's time to go and move on," she said.

Newman, the first woman elected to Pennsylvania's highest court, said her decision to step down and practice law had "absolutely nothing" to do with the political climate that followed the July 2005 pay raise for lawmakers, top state officials and judges.

Newman, 68, will head the appellate-practice division of the Cozen O'Connor law firm in Philadelphia.

"I'm not retiring. I'm leaving the bench," she said. Newman said she decided to take an "exciting" opportunity with the law firm where her brother is a partner. She will join the firm Jan 1.

Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy said in a statement that he and the other justices will miss Newman's "effervescent and generous spirit."

"She has been a tough-minded, principled and dedicated colleague," Cappy said. "Her interest has always been to serve the public with integrity, a strong desire to ensure access to justice for all Pennsylvanians and a firm commitment to the rule of law."

Despite winning retention for a 10-year term last year, Newman would have been forced to leave the bench in two years when she reached the mandatory retirement age of 70.

Gov. Ed Rendell will have 90 days to appoint a replacement who must be confirmed by the Senate. The seat will become open for a 10-year term in the 2007 election, said Thomas B. Darr, the state's deputy court administrator.

"Justice Newman has served on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court independently, with balance and a great deal of integrity," Rendell said. "As the first woman elected to serve on Pennsylvania's highest court, she has proven herself as a capable jurist and trailblazer for women across the commonwealth."

Rendell said he appreciated her "thoughtful deliberation, as well as her leadership and advocacy on behalf of children."

But Newman was "part of a court that delivered a political karate chop to the voters' gut," said Eric Epstein, founder of RocktheCapital.org, a government reform group. "Once you lose the voters' confidence, you lose the voters.

"The Supreme Court is lost and requires new leadership. This is an opportunity for the governor to do the right thing and appoint a judicial reformer."

Newman, who served for two years on Commonwealth Court before being elected to the Supreme Court in 1995, was narrowly retained for a second 10-year term in November 2005. In the same election, Justice Russell M. Nigro was defeated as voters focused on him as a target of outrage over the judicial raise.

Shortly after the election, the Legislature repealed the pay raise. The Supreme Court in September reinstated the raise for more than 1,000 judges across the state.

Newman, who lives in Gladwyne in Montgomery County, is the mother of Jonathan Newman, chairman of the state Liquor Control Board.