Lehigh Valley Political Pulse | ‘Politics have no place in the court of law’

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Few public officials carry more authority than judges, host Tom Shortell said in the opening of this week’s Political Pulse.

“But while we elect our judges in Pennsylvania, their campaigns don’t resemble typical races,” Shortell said. “Once in office, most of them operate away from the limelight.”

They also keep the day-to-day legal system of the community running, focusing on everything from minor criminal cases and traffic violations to civil cases and more.

To help shed some light on a judge’s broader responsibilities, Shortell welcomed retired Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano to this week’s episode.

Judge Giordano served as a presiding judge on Northampton County Court, Third Judicial District, from 2004 through 2018.

He was the county’s first administrative Judge of the Orphans’ County Division, which handles matters concerning decedents’ estates, trusts and guardianship of minors and adoptions.

He later was appointed to a statewide task force charged with implementing change to Orphans’ Court, and the first judge in Pennsylvania to institute guardianship certification requirements for the protection of senior citizens.

“Helping people resolve issues of custody was very rewarding, but it was also the most challenging aspect of the job,” Giordano said.

“The easier decisions for me were civil matters, criminal matters. But domestic relations [and] custody matters were very, very difficult.”

Shortell said that when a judicial candidate launches a campaign, it’s different from someone — perhaps a congressional or mayoral candidate — who would fully lay out his or her priorities and platforms during the election cycle.

“The code of judicial conduct applies to candidates, and your personal political beliefs are not to be part of this,” Giordano said.

“You’re supposed to be apolitical and you’re supposed to decide every case on the facts.

He emphasized that while judges at the local level are following that set of ethical guidelines, he believes judges on the federal level are “playing politics.”

“Politics have no place in the court of law,” he said.

To learn more about this code for maintaining public trust in the justice system, Giordano’s time on the bench and more, check out this week’s episode of Political Pulse in the video player above.