Debra Todd
From Judgepedia
Contents |
Debra McCloskey Todd (b. October 15, 1957) is a Justice on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She was first elected to the court as a Democrat in a partisan election in 2007 after having served at the appellate level on the Pennsylvania Superior Court from 2000-2007. Her current term expires in 2017.[1][2]
Education
- LLM, University of Virginia School of Law, 2004
- JD, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 1982
- BA, Chatham College, 1979[3][2]
Legal career
- Trial Attorney, Complex Civil Litigation, Private Practice, 1987-1999
- In-House Litigation Attorney, United States Steel Corporation, 1982-1987
- Judge, Pennsylvania Superior Court, 2000-2007[3]
Mentally-ill death row inmates
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's decision impacts four death-row inmates, including two mentally ill prisoners from Philadelphia who can now be forcibly medicated in order to make them mentally competent to continue their appeals. Ruling in the case of Thavirak Sam, a Cambodian immigrant who killed three family members in 1989 and has been mentally incompetent for years, the court said that if Sam were left untreated, his appeal would remain in limbo indefinitely.
The issue is important because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1986 that convicted murderers cannot be executed if they are so mentally ill that they cannot understand why they face a death sentence and what that sentence means. Sam has been on death row since 1991, and prosecutors have been trying for several years to get him medicated so he can be competent enough to decide whether he wants to continue his appeal or be put to death. At varying points over the years, Sam has imagined that the U.S. Supreme Court had ordered him freed and that a Cambodian prince had interceded on his behalf. Castille was joined by Justices Thomas Saylor, J. Michael Eakin and Seamus McCaffrey. Justices Max Baer and Todd dissented.[4]
Cost of judicial offices
Pennsylvania taxpayers spend $3.42 million a year to house 43 appeals judges in personal offices, often at some of the swankiest addresses. "The judiciary's extravagant expenditures on office space are just one more example of the mismanagement of the public's purse in Pennsylvania," said Matt Brouillette, president of the Commonwealth Foundation, a Harrisburg think tank. "This is yet another example of how we've lost sight of what it means to go into 'public service.'" Three of the 10 most-expensive offices are occupied by Supreme Court Chief Justice Ralph Cappy and Justice Max Baer, and Superior Court Judge Debra Todd. [5]
External links
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court
- Project Vote Smart profile of Debra Todd
- Lady Justice is nonpartisan, by Debra Todd
References
| ||||||||
 |
The Pennsylvania Project on Judgepedia
|
