DN Editorial: TO THE JUNKYARD

AT LAST, someone has come up with a good idea about what to do with Philadelphia's scandal-ridden Traffic Court: Get rid of it.

Sen. Dominic Pileggi, Republican leader of the state Senate, said he is working on legislation to abolish Traffic Court and shift its duties to Municipal Court.

Pileggi said he was prompted to act because of an ongoing FBI investigation into corruption at the court and because of a report, done for the state Supreme Court by investigator William Chadwick, that revealed widespread fixing of cases based on politics.

Traffic Court, Chadwick wrote, has "two tracks of justice - one for the connected and another for the unwitting general public."

In name, the Traffic Court is a branch of the state judiciary. In reality, it is a creature of the city's Democratic political organization, whose ward leaders are among the major "requestors" of special consideration in the handling of cases.

The cases themselves are heard by judges handpicked by the party organization and elected in low-turnout elections by voters who usually don't have a clue who these candidates are. (Often, the judges are ward leaders themselves.) The court handles moving violations handed out by police for various infractions, such as speeding, running a red light, reckless driving, driving without a license, etc. It has 110 employees, handles about 170,000 cases a year and brings in $24 million annually in fines and fees.

After FBI raids in 2010 and 2011, the state Supreme Court named former prosecutor and Common Pleas Judge Gary Glazer to head operations at the court on Spring Garden Street. Glazer is an honest, nonpolitical guy who has put a clamp down on the shenanigans at the court.

But, he is just one man, and his rule won't last forever. When he departs, how long will it take for the pols to seize the court and revert to their old games? Probably about 45 minutes.

Glazer supports Pileggi's idea, and Chadwick is working with the Senate leader to draw up particulars of the plan. Some favor a system that replaces judges with hearing examiners - similar to the system used in the Bureau of Adjudication, which handles hearings on parking tickets.

It is hard to take politics out of any endeavor in Philadelphia, but the Pileggi bill should try its best. This should be a bipartisan effort. Democratic legislators, especially those from Philadelphia, should sign on as co-sponsors. Given the disgrace that Traffic Court is and has been, it will be hard for them to defend it.

Some Democrats complain that the Pileggi proposal is part of a "Republican vendetta" against Philadelphia. That's a ludicrous assertion. Others argue that there is no need to punish the entire court because of the actions of a few.

But, as the Chadwick report makes clear, what's wrong at Traffic Court isn't the work of a few bad apples. The whole barrel is rotten.

Judge Glazer said it best: "If someone is in favor of the present system, then they are in favor of corruption."

We agree. It's time for Traffic Court to go.