Pa.'s Justice Newman to step down

HARRISBURG - Despite being elected last November to another 10 years on the state's highest court, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Sandra Schultz Newman will step down at the end of the year.

Newman, the first woman elected to the Supreme Court, will be joining the Philadelphia law firm of Cozen O'Connor Jan. 1. In her new position, she will head the firm's appellate division.

Her departure means that Gov. Rendell will have to appoint an interim justice to the oldest appellate court in the nation. Voters will elect her permanent replacement, as well as a replacement for another justice, next fall.

"I love the court, I love my colleagues, the collegiality was great - and I'm going to miss that," said Newman, 68, a Republican from Montgomery County. "...But I just felt like I wanted to move on."

Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy said in a statement: "She has been a tough-minded, principled and dedicated colleague... . On a personal note, Sandra's effervescent and generous spirit has made her a pleasure to work with and I predict her new colleagues will quickly discover that truth."

According to her biography in the Pennsylvania Manual, Newman was born in Philadelphia and was first elected to the court in 1995. She was married to Julius Newman, a pioneer in cosmetic surgery known affectionately as "Dr. Nose,"
who died shortly before last November's judicial retention election.

In that election, Newman narrowly escaped defeat at the polls because of voter anger over the July 2005 pay raises that lawmakers had approved for themselves, as well as the executive and judicial branches. (The legislature later repealed those raises under public pressure.)

In that same election, fellow Justice Russell M. Nigro was tossed from the bench. He is contemplating another run for the court.

After she was reelected to the bench last year, Newman became one of five justices who issued a controversial ruling reinstating the pay raise for themselves and about 1,000 other Pennsylvania judges.

In an interview yesterday, Newman said the bitterness over the pay raise played no role in her decision to step down.

She said that she had been contemplating not running for retention last November because of her husband's death. But, she said, her son, Jonathan Newman, chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, told her her husband would have wanted her to run.

"My son called and said my husband would kick my butt if I didn't," she recalled.

Had Newman remained on the bench, she would have faced a mandatory retirement in two years, when she turned 70, as per judicial rules.

However, Newman said yesterday that did not factor in her decision, and she said she had not been pursuing another job. She said that at a recent social gathering, she spoke with Mark Schultz, her brother who also works at Cozen, as
well as Patrick J. O'Connor, the firm's president and CEO, and learned about the opening.

"The more I thought about it, the more appealing it became," she said.

With Newman's exit, there will now be three seats for voters to fill on the seven-member bench in next year's election.

When Nigro was defeated, Justice Cynthia A. Baldwin was named as an interim appointment. She has said she will not run for a seat in the November 2007 election.

The third judicial candidate would be Justice Thomas G. Saylor, who faces a retention election.

As for Newman's spot, Rendell has 90 days to nominate a replacement, who will be subject to Senate approval.

"Justice Newman has served on the Pennsylvania Supreme court independently, with balance and a great deal of integrity," Rendell said in a statement yesterday. "... I wish her the best of luck in her next endeavor."

Contact staff writer Angela Couloumbis at 717-787-5934 or acouloumbis@phillynews.com.