"Moving the Business" in Philly

In Philadelphia, birthplace of American democracy, local judges are popularly elected. More accurately, they are chosen by the political party in power and then automatically voted in by apathetic voters. They are selected, says District Attorney Edward G. Rendell, not for integrity, legal ability or judicial temperament. "Instead," says Rendell, "these questions are asked: What has the lawyer done for the political party nominating him? What has he contributed to the party in time and money?" The result, say Philadelphia's lawyers, is "a sad bench."

Criminal Judge Thomas A. White was picked to fill a vacancy in 1977. Why? "I'm Irish," he says. "Of course, I'm qualified," he hastily adds, but he matter-of-factly explains that the Democratic Party needed an Irish judge to "balance the ethnic makeup" of their judicial slate. One of 16 children of an I.R.A. member who fled Ireland for the U.S. in 1928, White, who has six children of his own, is president of the Irish Society of Philadelphia, an American 'Legionnaire and a booster of a boys' club. He is also, he says, a "lifelong Democrat" who managed to be elected to the state legislature in the Eisenhower landslide. Redistricted out of his seat in 1954, he decided to go to law school and become a criminal defense lawyer. All the while, he stayed active in Democratic ward politics, and his loyalty was rewarded when he was backed for a judgeship by Congressman Raymond F. Lederer, whom White describes as "a close personal friend."

White is a "waivers judge," which means that he tries defendants who have waived their right to a jury. In Philadelphia, defendants usually do not plea bargain--that is, plead guilty in return for leniency. Instead, they are apt to plead not guilty but waive their right to a jury trial because they know waivers judges will go easy on them. Too easy, complain Philadelphia prosecutors. In White's court, defendants convicted of shootings and stabbings get off on probation; attempted rape of a girl of 16 by three men with criminal records got the three only six to 23 months in jail.

Leniency does have one dubious advantage for an overloaded court system.

It makes for speed. Trials without jury are brief; the more defendants who opt for them--and most do--the faster the Philadelphia courts can dispose of their huge case loads. Judge White likes to "move the business" right along; he hears three or four cases a day, disposes of 15 a week. The day begins at 9:30 or 10, when the judge, clad in his black robe, enters his small, drab courtroom through its single door. White says he deplores the lack of a private entryway to his chambers; it means he has to come in the same way as spectators, lawyers, witnesses, defendants, everybody. Only a few feet of space separates the lawyers from the bench. That is not enough for histrionics, but then there is no jury to sway. There is only Judge White, and he is more interested in a rapid recitation of the facts than impassioned pleas or oratory.

The only emotion on a busy summer day comes from a black teenage defendant and his mother.

Though White prefers parole to jail for first offenders in order to give them a second chance, he is strict about parole violations. In this case, the teenager, convicted of robbery, has failed to report to his probation officer for a month. White revokes his probation and sentences him to jail for one to 23 months. Both mother and son burst into tears. "Judge, that's unfair, a child like him," cries the mother. The judge shuffles papers as the young man is led off, and the crying subsides. Then he calls the next case.

White is vexed only by interruptions in his schedule. He is clearly irritated one morning when a defense lawyer brings along eight witnesses to testify in a purse-snatching case. The judge complains that it will take him all day to try the case. "All day" turns out to be five hours. After hearing the witnesses, White says he cannot be sure whether the defendant is guilty or innocent, so he has to find him not guilty, using the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard. The prosecutor says he has witnesses ready for another trial, but White curtly rebuffs him. It is 2:30 in the afternoon. The judge adjourns court.

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