Open Commonwealth Court Seat Sought By Southeastern PA Attorney

BERKS COUNTY, PA — A civil rights attorney from Southeastern Pennsylvania is hoping to fill a vacancy on the state's Commonwealth Court, a unique court that has original jurisdiction over matters but also oversees appeals challenges.

Joshua Prince, of the Civil Rights Defense Firm, P.C., in Bechtelsville, Berks County, has thrown his name in the running for judge of the Commonwealth Court, a unique bench that Prince says is the only court in the entire nation that acts as both a trial level court and appellate court.

Prince, a licensed attorney since 2009, spoke with Patch on Tuesday about his Commonwealth Court candidacy, legal philosophies and his status as a fourth-generation attorney, his great-grandfather also having practiced law in Pennsylvania, Prince's home state.

"I've spent my entire career defending civil rights at the state and federal levels," Prince said.

Prince, who attended Widener University Law School in Harrisburg and obtained his license to practice law in October 2009, said he has practiced before the Commonwealth Court, and even successfully obtained numerous injunctions from cases argued before that court.

'Unique Nature' Of The Court

"I love the unique nature of the Commonwealth Court," Prince said about Commonwealth Court, whose judges handle matters of original jurisdiction — when the panel acts in the capacity of a trial court — as well as appeals matters.

Typically, courts are either trial courts or appellate courts - not both.

"You get a very broad experience from a litigation perspective," he said on practicing before the court.

The vacancy on Commonwealth Court was created when former Judge P. Kevin Brobson left the judicial body to join the Pennsylvania Supreme Court last year.

Prince said he initially put his name in the running to be appointed to fill out Brobson's term on the Commonwealth Court, but that Gov. Tom Wolf never acted on the appointment, although the appointment could still occur anytime between now and the spring.

And even if the appointment does come through, Prince still plans to run for the seat in 2023 during next year's election cycle. (Even if he wins appointment, he will still need to run in order to retain the seat, since all judges are elected in Pennsylvania.)

Won't Legislate From The Bench

Prince said the problem of "judicial legislation" seems to have become prevalent in recent time, and he believes the three branches of government really need to maintain the separateness as crafted by the nation's founders.

"I will not legislate from the bench," Prince said.

All too often, the judiciary has been "willing to usurp the legislature's authority and basically legislate as they deem fit through judicial determinations," said Prince, who was born and raised in eastern Berks County, just past the Montgomery County line.

Prince has already apparently made an impression with his judicial philosophy; he has gotten numerous endorsements, from gun rights organizations to a law enforcement group.

He has won the support of the Firearms Owners Against Crime, a gun rights and civil rights group in Pennsylvania, as well as the Sheriffs' Association of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

On the latter, Prince said he believes it is the first time in the group's history that it has endorsed a judicial candidate at the appointment stage, as opposed to an election run.

"Attorney Joshua Prince has always been a civil rights advocate and stands firmly in his support of the Pennsylvania Constitution and the U.S. Constitution," Sheriffs' Association President Joseph Groody wrote in a March letter to Gov. Wolf. "He is well versed and learned in the laws of this Commonwealth and has argued dozens of cases successfully before the appellate courts and most often before the Commonwealth Court. He has successfully litigated both state and federal cases and is a strong advocate in the protection of our civil liberties, the Second Amendment, mental health freedom and workers compensation claims. It is our opinion that he would serve the people and the courts well and without prejudice on the Commonwealth bench."

Members of the state House also wrote a letter late last year in support of Prince's candidacy, stating that, "We can think of no other person who has demonstrated by thought and deed a greater commitment to constitutional adherence and a philosophy of judicial restraint."

And in their own letter from this past February, state senators also endorsed Prince for the bench, saying Prince's "vast experience, especially before the Commonwealth Court, includes litigating matters of constitutional rights, workers compensation disability claims, mental health relief, and COVID/state of emergency related issues."

"Attorney Prince is wholly qualified to sit on the Commonwealth Court and his record — not merely his words — reflect his ardent and steadfast devotion to defending, in a strict constructionist view, the PA and U.S. Constitutions," the senators wrote.

'Last Line of Defense'

On his campaign website, Prince shares a quote that the judiciary is the "citizens' last line of defense for their liberty and their rights to be upheld and vindicated.

"It is through that prism that I will apply the law as written and the Constitution as designed," Prince writes.

Prince, who handles a variety of legal matters, said he spent a vast majority of his legal career practicing before the Commonwealth Court, which requires a special set of skills not possessed by all attorneys.

Lawyers practicing before the court need to know how to make objections, properly prepare a case and argue legal points, since Commonwealth Court acts as a trial court, but also need to know about appellate procedure, since the court also handles appeals given its unique judicial mission.

"I have been very successful in my career before the Commonwealth Court," he said.

Prince, 41 years old and a registered Republican, said he first joined the law practice owned by his father, Warren, when he graduated from law school back in 2009, but then went on to form his own firm, the Civil Rights Defense Firm, P.C., which also includes a division called Firearms Industry Consulting Group, which holds a registered trademark.

Given Prince's work with firearms law, the attorney gained the support of the Second Amendment Foundation, whose executive vice president, Alan Gottlieb, released a statement saying he backs Prince's candidacy for Commonwealth Court.

"Josh Prince has shown the judicial temperament and demonstrated the values that are vital for our judiciary," Gottlieb wrote. "It is imperative that judges adhere to the constitutional commands, while remaining an impartial arbiter, and I have no doubts that Mr. Prince will do just that. His legal work shows a vast understanding of the law, its application, and proper outcomes based on the plain text of the law itself, not his personal feelings on the matter."

You can learn more about Prince and his candidacy for the Commonwealth Court here on his campaign website.