Penn State University Trustee Would Not Be First in Dual Role

By Adam Smeltz, Centre Daily Times, State College, Pa.

Jan. 30–If she’s confirmed, Pennsylvania Supreme Court nominee Cynthia Baldwin will become the second Penn State trustees chair to double as a top state judge.

James A. Beaver, the namesake of Beaver Stadium, was a Pennsylvania Superior Court justice and chairman of the university’s board of trustees from 1898 to 1914, historian Mike Bezilla noted Friday.

State Sen. Jeff Piccola, R-Dauphin County, said earlier last week that Baldwin should resign as trustees chairwoman because her Penn State role could conflict with her pending appointment to the high court. Baldwin is now an Allegheny County Court judge.

Bezilla and Lee Stout, the head of a Penn State special collections library, pointed out that other university trustees have served simultaneously in numerous judicial roles over the decades. Among them:

–Frederick Watts, the trustees chairman from 1855 to 1874, was a state district judge.

–John H. Orvis, a trustee from 1875 to 1893, was a Centre County judge from 1874 to 1883.

–H. Walton Mitchell, the trustees chairman from 1914 until 1929, was a judge in the Allegheny County Orphans’ Court.

–James Millholland, the trustees chairman from 1946 to 1956, was a judge in the same court.

It isn’t clear whether Watts, Mitchell and Millholland were sitting judges at the same time they were trustee chairs, Bezilla and Stout said in e-mails.

John W. Morris, a Philadelphia trial lawyer and past chairman of the Judicial Conduct Board, told The Associated Press that he wasn’t sure whether Baldwin’s dual roles would violate a code of judicial conduct.

“They (Supreme Court justices) hear very few cases themselves a year; they only hear important cases involving issues of law,” Morris told the AP. “So it would be up to the justice to figure out themselves whether that work would conflict with their judicial duties, and it would really depend on what they’re being called upon to do as trustees.”

Piccola, the Senate majority whip, said Thursday that Baldwin and state Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph Cappy, the trustees chairman at the University of Pittsburgh, could find themselves in ethical conflicts.

“Having judges at the pinnacle of the governing structure of these (academic) institutions puts them right in the middle, many times, of extrajudicial matters that are controversial,” Piccola said.

Gov. Ed Rendell nominated Baldwin to the Supreme Court seat. His spokeswoman, Kate Philips, has said that Piccola seemed to center his reasoning on “a very small portion” of the judicial code.

Another section of the code of judicial conduct allows judges to serve as university trustees as long as the universities don’t ordinarily have business before the court.

Penn State spokesman Bill Mahon said the university thinks Baldwin is in the clear and should remain as trustees chairwoman regardless of her position on the bench.

Baldwin could not be reached for comment.

“We’re very fortunate to have her serving on the board,” Mahon said.

A Judiciary Committee hearing on the Baldwin nomination is slated for Feb. 14.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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