Max Baer

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Pennsylvania Supreme Court
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Ronald Castille
Thomas Saylor
Max Baer
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Max Baer (b. 1947) was elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2003 as a Democrat in a partisan election; his current term expires in 2013.

Biography

Baer was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 24, 1947 to Henry and Helen Baer. He is married to Beth Love Hartman. Together they have two sons, Ben and Andy.[1]

Background

In 1971, Baer graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a Bachelor of Arts. In 1975, he graduated with a Juris Doctor from Duquesne University. From 1985-1986, he attended Robert Morris College for credits in the Masters of Tax Program.[2]

Legal career

After graduating from law school, from 1975 to 1979, Baer was the Deputy Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. From 1980-1989, he was in private practice, which ended when he was elected judge for Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. From 1993 to 1999, he was Administrative Judge for the Family Division, and in 1999 Judge Baer was retained for a second ten-year term. In 2003, he was elected justice for the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Awards and associations

Associations

Max Baer is a former chair, Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee, Ex Officio Representative to the Juvenile Court Judges Commission, Former Member, Joint State Government Commission on Adoption Law and Services to Children and Youth, Former Chair, Pennsylvania Conference of Trial Judges Family Law Section, and Former Member, Conference's Education Committee.

Awards

  • 1997 Adoption Advocate of the Year, Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare
  • 1998 Adoption 2002 Excellence Award for Judicial Innovation, Federal Department of Health and Human Services
  • 1998 Robert S. Steward Award for Distinguished Service to Pennsylvania Families
  • 1999 Child Advocacy Award for Legal Contributions Advancing the Welfare of our Nation's Children
  • 1999 Judicial Achievement Award for Advancing Pro Bono Activities
  • 2000 Child Advocate of the Year, Pennsylvania Bar Association
  • 2003 Champion of Children's Award, Homeless Children's Education Fund
  • 2003 Humanitarian Award for Community Involvement from the J.N.L. Club
  • 2004 Most Valuable Peacemaker, Pennsylvania's Council of Mediators

Publications

  • The Judge's Book (two chapters), National Conference of State Trial Judges
  • 1999 "Custody Wars - The Creation of a New Weapon of Mass Destruction," 21 PA Family Lawyer, Issue No. 4
  • 2000 Guest columnist, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Forum: "Open, Shut and Complicated: A Critique of the Elian Gonzales Case"
  • 2002 "Family Law and Civility: Can They Co-exist?" 24 Family Lawyer, Issue No. 1

Campaign contributors

For Max Baer to win his seat on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2003, he raised $1,608,597. The Pennsylvania Democratic Party was the largest single contributor with $233,500, or 14.52% of the total giving. Breaking down contributions by economic interest, the largest group in giving was Lawyers and Lobbyists, with $810,720, or 50.40%. The second largest group was the Democratic Party, with $420,690, or 26.15% of the total. The third largest group was Labor, with $130,800, or 8.13%.[3]

Court upholds taking of private property

"A city agency acted legally when it seized a woman's home to help a religious group build a private school in a blighted Philadelphia neighborhood, the state Supreme Court ruled this week." The decision pitting eminent domain against the separation of church and state reverses a ruling by the lower Commonwealth Court, which had sided with homeowner Mary Smith. "The principal or primary effect of the redevelopment plan ... is to eliminate blight in this particular neighborhood," Supreme Court Justice Cynthia Baldwin wrote for the majority. A secondary effect could be the advancement of religion, but there is no evidence that is the primary goal, she wrote. The city Redevelopment Authority condemned Smith's property in North Philadelphia in 2003 and transferred it to the Hope Partnership for Education, a Catholic organization that proposed a nondenominational middle school for the site, among other projects. Smith appealed the condemnation, arguing that it benefited a private religious entity and was not for a public purpose as the law requires. Common Pleas Court found the condemnation lawful, Commonwealth Court ruled that it wasn't, and now the Supreme Court has ruled that it is, provided the primary purpose is to remove blight. Supreme Court Justice Max Baer disagreed, calling the majority decision unfortunate. "I believe this is a case of direct government aid, in the form of a land transfer below market value, to a religious organization for the development of a religious school," Baer wrote in his dissent. The result, he wrote, is the "direct financing of religious education with the primary effect of advancing religion."[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 conservative 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]

Controversial sex-offender decision

Judge Max Baer again refused pleas from Allegheny County Children, Youth and Families to move a 5-year-old girl from the home of a foster father who impregnated his own 13-year-old daughter. This time, Baer made the decision after CYF showed that the foster child was the victim of sexual abuse in a previous foster home and was setting fires. Baer said he felt the child was in the best place she could be right now. CYF has tried to persuade judges to move the child since discovering last fall that the foster father had pled guilty in 1960 to sodomy and incest. This time, CYF urged Baer to place the child in a different home because she'd been sexually abused in a previous foster home, which would make it difficult to know if any sexual behavior now was a result of that prior assault or a new assault. The judge refused to hear additional testimony regarding the criminal record because CYF is appealing his refusal to remove the child based solely on that record. Hanley had urged Baer to listen to additional evidence she'd gathered regarding that record, saying, "I hate to think that while we wait for the judicial system to catch up that this child would be hurt." Baer said, however that Superior Court would decide that matter, and in the meantime, "I feel, all things considered, it is in the best interest of this child to remain in this home at this time."[6]

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Max Baer
  2. ↑ Pennsylvania Supreme Court: Max Baer
  3. ↑ Follow the Money: Max Baer
  4. ↑ Government can seize private property
  5. ↑ Judges' offices cost taxpayers $3.42 million a year
  6. ↑ Post-Gazette
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