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Cleland takes oath of office for Superior Court Thursday
By MARCIE SCHELLHAMMER
Era Reporter
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| Era photo by Fran De Lancey |
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SMETHPORT — Judge John M. Cleland left his 24-year position of McKean County’s president judge Thursday and was sworn in as a judge on the Pennsylvania Superior Court — all without leaving his office at the McKean County Courthouse.
Cleland was sworn in by Judge John H. Yoder, who then officially became president judge of the McKean County Court of Common Pleas. The brief, informal ceremony was held in Cleland’s office with some of his family members, courthouse employees and others in witness. A ceremonial swearing-in will be held later in the summer.
Prior to the ceremony, Cleland spoke to The Era about his career, his new assignment and his future plans.
“Twenty-four years ago this summer, Judge (Richard) Brandow died, and this process started for me,” Cleland said. He was appointed to fill the vacancy by then-Gov. Richard Thornburgh, a Republican, as is Cleland.
And now Cleland has been appointed to a state appellate court by Gov. Ed Rendell, a Democrat.
“I don’t know how these things happen,” Cleland said with a laugh. “I would not be presumptuous enough to say that merit had anything to do with it. Sometimes it’s just luck. I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that it had anything to do with ability, frankly.
“Lightening strikes sometimes,” he said, shrugging.
Explaining the duties of the Superior Court, Cleland said, “Essentially, we’re determining whether or not an error has been a made in a trial that’s been held. It’s appeals from the trial court. We’re ruling on court. There’s more to it than that, obviously.
“There’s 15 Superior Court judges and almost 400 trial court judges, so there’s a huge volume of work,” he said. “The judges are mostly in Harrisburg and Philadelphia. None north of (Interstate) 80 and none that are rural except me.”
Cleland was quick to point out that he does not consider himself a trailblazer, citing others who have gone before him.
“Judge (Glenn) Mencer was an appointment to the Commonwealth Court and served there for many years,” he said. “Judge Morrison was president judge of this court in 1902 when he was appointed to Superior Court and then he subsequently serve a full term.
“He was appointed because the Superior Court needed someone with a background in oil and gas law,” Cleland explained. “Of course, him being a judge in this court, he had that background. I take some of that with me. I don’t think there’s an area of law in the past 24 years that I haven’t seen or at least thought about.”
He said state Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, had been lobbying for the appointment of a rural judge to the appellate court to bring some rural perspective to the court.
“The law develops case by case, building blocks over time. If the law is built only on the perspective of people who live in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, it gets distorted because Pennsylvania has one of the largest rural populations in the United States,” Cleland said.
“Is there going to be some huge, dramatic shift? No. But over time, will the law be enhanced because there’s a broader cultural perspective, while I hope the answer to that is ‘yes.’ I don’t think it’s going to change the result to very many cases but it may add a level of appreciation and understanding of rural issues as the law develops.”
And Cleland will be keeping that rural perspective, as his chambers will be established in McKean County.
“The Superior Court will set my chambers up anywhere I want to be and I didn’t think twice about it. Here. I didn’t have a site yet, but we’re looking.”
Arguments are held in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg, and Cleland will travel there to hear arguments when he is scheduled to do so. However, most of his work will be done through shipping of large amounts of paperwork.
“They told me when looking for chamber space to have lots of filing room,” he said, laughing.
He added that it will likely take six to eight weeks to get his chambers up and running.
Cleland will be serving on the Superior Court until Dec. 31, 2009, and will not run for election to that office. So what comes next?
“The short answer is I don’t know,” he said, laughing, explaining there are several options he is considering.
At the end of his term on the Superior Court, he will go on “senior status.”
“I would essentially go wherever the Supreme Court assigns me,” he said. “In my situation, the Supreme Court has assigned judges back to the Superior Court, so it’s a possibility that I might just stay at the Superior Court as a senior judge instead of a commissioned judge. Or I might decide I don’t like appellate work and I might want to come back and do trial court. And I would have that option.
“If I don’t end up judging full-time for whatever reason, by choice or by assignment or how ever, what I’d really like to do is get back and spend more time on public health law and biohazard and bioterror issues, because I’ve been spending a lot of time on that. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done there,” Cleland said.
He has worked with the Department of Justice and Center for Disease Control on biohazard and public health-related issues for several years.
“Anytime you have a birthday that ends with a five or a zero, you have to start doing some thinking,” he said. “I was 60 in December.”
Cleland said while he is looking forward to what the future holds, he will also remember with fondness his time spent presiding in McKean County.
Looking around his office in the courthouse, he said, “I’ve spent a lot of formative years in this room. I’ve spent the bulk of my professional life here. There’s a lot of it that goes with me.”
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