HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP)—A Pittsburgh judge who spent more than a decade playing cornerback for the Steelers said he will be a candidate for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court next year.
Also joining the race will be Superior Court Judge Cheryl Lynn Allen (R) who announced her intention to seek the position a day later.
Dwayne Woodruff told The Associated Press that he made the decision in the past week or two to seek one of three vacancies on the seven-justice court that will go before the voters in 2015.
“I think being on the Supreme Court’s going to give me a larger platform in regard to serving the people in the commonwealth, particularly when it comes to education and caring of families,” said Woodruff, a Democrat who has been an Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas judge since 2005.
“I am honored to have served as a judge in the state of Pennsylvania for more than 24 years, and I believe that my diverse experiences equip me well to bring a combination of wisdom, integrity, and informed judgment to our state’s highest court,” Allen said. “I also believe that my deep personal involvement with the children and families who came before me in Juvenile Court has helped me to hone the compassion and sensitivity that will enable me to serve with dignity and effectiveness on the high court.”
Woodruff, 57, had 37 interceptions while playing in the NFL from 1979 to 1990, and was a rookie on the Steelers squad that beat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl XIV.
Woodruff described the email scandal, which centered on employees of the state attorney general’s office, as “unfortunate” and an embarrassment to the entire state.
“I just think when you look at our bench, you should see every judge that’s honest and forthcoming and has the best interests of the commonwealth at heart,” he said Monday.
Woodruff was nominated to fill a county vacancy in 2004 by then-Gov. Ed Rendell, after which he was elected to a full 10-year term.
He played for a few years on the Steelers with Lynn Swann, who ran an unsuccessful campaign as a Republican against Rendell in 2006.
Allen is a Pittsburgh native and graduate of Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Pittsburgh School Of Law. Allen was appointed judge to the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County in 1990, and was elected to a full 10 year term in 1991. Allen was retained by the Allegheny County voters in 2001. Allen was an Associate Professor at Point Park University from 2001 to 2006 before she was elected Judge of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in 2007 where she currently holds office.
Allen holds numerous distinctions and awards including; Doctor of Humane Letters from Waynesburg University. She was recognized as an Alumni Fellow in 2013 by Penn State University and its Alumni Association. Allen serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Waynesburg University, and Hosanna House. Allen is married and is the mother of three children and grandmother of seven
About a dozen names are floating around as potential 2015 candidates for the state Supreme Court, and three Democrats on Superior Court have so far confirmed their candidacies: Anne Lazarus, David Wecht and Christine Donohue. Superior Court Judge John Bender, a Republican, has said he hoped to run.
Another confirmed candidate is Justice Correale Stevens, who was appointed by Gov. Tom Corbett last year to fill a seat opened by the resignation of Justice Joan Orie Melvin, following her conviction in a public corruption case. Stevens said Monday he has decided he will seek the job on a permanent basis.
The other two openings are a vacancy created by the sudden retirement last month of Justice Seamus McCaffery, whose involvement in a pornographic email scandal had become public, and the spot held by Chief Justice Ronald Castille, who is about to step down after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court currently has a 4-3 Republican majority, counting the empty seat held most recently by McCaffery, a Democrat.
