Judge Edmund B. Spaeth Jr., 95, headed Pa. Superior Court.

Judge Edmund B. Spaeth Jr., 95, the retired president judge of the Pennsylvania Superior Court and longtime crusader for fair judicial practices, died Thursday, March 31, of congestive heart failure at Cathedral Village in Philadelphia.

Judge Spaeth was a widely respected trial and appellate judge for more than two decades, culminating in three years as president judge of the Pennsylvania Superior Court. He was vocal about what he saw as blatant flaws in the judiciary, particularly the practice of electing judges rather than choosing them based on merit.

And he practiced what he preached, declining to run in 1985 for a second 10-year term on the Superior Court, because he viewed political campaigning by judges as fundamentally inconsistent with a fair and impartial judiciary.

Judges who run for office, he said, are inevitably cast as Democrats or Republicans. And the need to campaign required them to raise a lot of money, much of which came from lawyers or others likely to appear before them in court.

"I don't want to solicit contributions, and I don't want to seek political support," he also told Inquirer reporters as part of a 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning series, "Disorder in the Court."

"Suppose you're before the court, and you know your opponent's lawyer has made a contribution," he told the newspaper. "That shouldn't be. It's inconsistent with the appearance of impartiality. A court must not only be fair, it must be seen as fair."

A tall, slim gentleman who commanded attention without raising his voice, Judge Spaeth had a tremendous influence on generations of law clerks and lawyers, not just because of what he said but what he did.

In April 1990, a year after Gov. Bob Casey appointed him chairman of the state Judicial Inquiry and Review Board (JIRB), Judge Spaeth resigned, bluntly telling Casey that the judicial system was too dysfunctional for the board to do its job. The governor appointed him to a commission to recommend changes in that system.

Among the commission's recommendations was abolishing the review board and replacing it with a system of judicial discipline more open to the public, in which the prosecutorial and judicial functions would be separated, and the ability of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to undo the disciplinary order limited. The changes became law.

"This is timely," said his friend and colleague Lynn A. Marks. "And we're seeing that it has to be changed yet again."

In 1988, Judge Spaeth became chair of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts (PMC), a nonprofit corporation created to advance reforms of the judicial system. Marks has been its longtime executive director.

When the organization honored him in November 2013 for contributions to the fair courts movement, many of his former law clerks attended. Now judges, authors, and corporate leaders, they said "the year they clerked for Judge Spaeth was the best year of their professional lives," Marks said.

"He showed you could be brilliant, but also modest and gentle and respectful," Marks said.

A Washington native transplanted to Mount Airy, Judge Spaeth graduated from Germantown Friends School and from Harvard College. He served in Navy intelligence operations during World War II and later joined the Naval Reserve, retiring with the rank of commander.

In 1948, he earned a degree from the Harvard Law School. He became an associate with the Philadelphia law firm MacCoy, Evans & Lewis. While there, he helped defend Communists charged with violating the Smith Act by advocating the overthrow of the United States government.

In June 1964, Gov. William Scranton appointed him a judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, and Judge Spaeth was subsequently elected to a full term.

He issued orders upholding the creation of SEPTA; directing the City of Philadelphia to fund its pension plan based on sound actuarial principles; and declaring the Philadelphia prison unconstitutional in some practices and appointing a special master to recommend changes.

In January 1973, Gov. Milton Shapp appointed Judge Spaeth to fill a vacancy on the Pennsylvania Superior Court. He was defeated in the primary election that spring and returned unspent campaign funds to donors.

Later that same year, Shapp tapped Judge Spaeth to fill a second vacancy on the Superior Court. This time, the judge survived the primary election, and was elected to a full 10-year term. In August 1983, he became president judge of the Superior Court, serving until the expiration of his term in January 1986.

From then until May 2002, Judge Spaeth acted as counsel to the Philadelphia-based law firm Pepper Hamilton. "Any time there was an important brief, the litigation partners would ask: 'Has Judge Spaeth seen this?' He defined their integrity and professionalism," Marks said.

Judge Spaeth taught at the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania from 1974 to 1997. His principal subject was evidence, but he also taught professional responsibility and cofounded the law school's Center on Professionalism.

He served on the boards of the Diagnostic and Rehabilitation Center and also Gaudenzia House; the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia; the Squirrel Island Library on Squirrel Island, Maine, where the family spent summers; and as chairman of the board of trustees of Bryn Mawr College under three presidents.

In September 1942, Judge Spaeth married Nancy Wiltbank, a former classmate at Germantown Friends School and childhood sweetheart. The two reared a family in Mount Airy.

"Dad was a family man and a creative writer, as well as a lawyer, judge, and law professor," said son Edmund B. Spaeth III.

Besides his wife and son, he is survived by daughters Eleanor Lee Simons and Suzanne Marinell; four grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; two step-great-grandchildren; two brothers; and several nieces and nephews. Another brother died earlier.

A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 24, at Germantown Friends Meeting, 31 West Coulter St., Philadelphia. Burial was private.

Donations may be made to the Squirrel Island Library, Squirrel Island, Maine 04570; or to Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, Three Parkway, Suite 1320, Philadelphia, Pa. 19102.

bcook@phillynews.com

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