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ELECTION DAY IS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2023!
Welcome to Informed Choices 2023, sponsored by the Judiciary Committee of the Montgomery Bar Association. This site is dedicated to proving the citizens of Montgomery County with the most in-depth, non-biased, and relevant information possible to aid in the selection of the most qualified judicial candidates for our County's bench. Please watch the brief video below and scroll further down to view the recommendations.
VIDEO: Why Our Judiciary Committee's Recommendations Matter
Recommendations of the Autonomous Judiciary Committee of the Montgomery Bar Association for the 2023 General Election
As a service to the electorate, all candidates on this year’s ballot have been given the opportunity to be independently reviewed by an autonomous, nonpartisan committee of 34 members of diverse backgrounds, geographic areas, ages, and areas of practice.
The autonomous and non-partisan Judiciary Committee of the Montgomery Bar Association, tasked with the obligation to pass objectively upon the qualifications of candidates for Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, has rated the following candidate Highly Recommended:
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Daniel G. Ronca
This candidate possesses superior qualifications to serve with distinction as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. He possesses an exceptional level of integrity, good moral character, industry, legal ability and experience, courtroom experience, humility, and judicial temperament, to be rated HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. This candidate, through these traits and his legal experience, his commitment to justice, the community, and the practice of law, has earned this HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating from the Committee. A candidate earns the rating of HIGHLY RECOMMENDED if eighty percent (80%) or more of the voting members of the Committee deem the candidate “Highly Recommended.”
NOT RECOMMENDED
Charles Rosenbaum
This candidate does not possess the qualifications to serve as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and is NOT RECOMMENDED. The opinion of the Committee is that this candidate failed to sufficiently demonstrate the criteria for the office of Judge, which include integrity, good moral character, industry, legal ability and experience, courtroom experience, and judicial temperament, necessary to serve in the important public office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Further, the candidate possesses limited jury trial experience and engages in a limited practice area preventing the Committee from assessing his legal abilities pertinent to all criteria for the office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Therefore the candidate is NOT RECOMMENDED.
Committee Note: The Committee notified this candidate, Charles Rosenbaum, of his “Not Recommended” rating and, in accordance with the Committee’s rules, provided the candidate the opportunity to withdraw his candidacy for Judge without publication of the “Not Recommended” rating. Mr. Rosenbaum agreed in writing to withdraw his candidacy for Judge and the Committee did not publish the “Not Recommended” rating at that time. In breach of that agreement, Mr. Rosenbaum continued his candidacy for Judge, after representing to the Committee that he would withdraw his candidacy, which he did not do. As a result of the continued candidacy for Judge by Mr. Rosenbaum, the Committee now publishes this “Not Recommended” rating for the candidate.
Judicial Retention Recommendations of the Autonomous Judiciary Committee of the Montgomery Bar Association for the 2023 General Election
The Judiciary Committee of the Montgomery Bar Association is charged with interviewing and rating candidates for the position of Judge on the Court of Common Pleas. The Judiciary Committee is composed of 34 lawyers of diverse backgrounds, ages, practices and geographic areas of Montgomery County with several hundred years of combined legal experience.
The Committee is charged to rate a sitting Judge as recommended for retention or not recommended for retention.
The Committee considers and rates the candidates on the following criteria:
Integrity;
Good moral character;
Industry;
Good health;
Legal ability;
Bench trial, jury trial or evidentiary hearing experience;
Judicial temperament (patience, courtesy, compassion, impartiality, humility, even temper, sense of fairness).
The Bar considers this process a service to educate the public concerning judicial candidates.
The Montgomery Bar Association RECOMMENDS that the following Judges be retained:
The Honorable William R. Carpenter - RECOMMENDED
The Honorable Steven T. O’Neill - RECOMMENDED
The Honorable Thomas P. Rogers - RECOMMENDED
The Honorable Steven C. Tolliver - RECOMMENDED
The Honorable Gail A. Weilheimer - RECOMMENDED
About the Montgomery Bar Association’s Autonomous Judiciary Committee
In its present form since 1965, the Committee is an autonomous, self-governing, committee within the Montgomery Bar Association charged with the obligation to pass upon the qualifications of every candidate for the office of Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, and to advise the public accordingly. The Committee is composed of the Association’s ten most recent Past-Presidents as well as elected rotating panels of 24 of the Association’s members-at-large. The Committee’s members are lawyers of diverse background, ages, practices and geographic areas of Montgomery County and hundreds of years of collective legal experience.