WHO IS VICTOR STABILE?
Victor Stabile is a person.
members of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in October 2023.
The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts for Courtesy.
members of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in October 2023. 3rd from left is Stabile.
The 1980s saw the Republican Stabile work as a deputy attorney general before moving on to the bench as a commonwealth court clerk. Serving as the chair of the Cumberland County GOP, he chaired the Middlesex Township GOP, and was a partner in the sizable firm Dilworth Paxson for almost ten years.
Eleven months later, he won the race for Superior Court after losing his first attempt in 2011.He “is highly regarded by his peers and is described by lawyers and judges alike as having a positive judicial temperament and broad legal knowledge,” the bar organisation noted in its nomination for him.
DURING HIS TENURE AS A JUDGE,
Stabile co-wrote a benchbook on restitution, which is a collection of material intended to assist other judges in navigating complicated legal matters. In an interview with the bar association, he mentioned that it was just one of many instances of his efforts providing legal education to Pennsylvanian bar members through lectures and other means.
In several recent high-profile rulings, Stabile dissented from a ruling that found Uber had not met the legal threshold for requiring users to waive jury trials; he also reinstated charges against an engineer in a fatal Amtrak crash on procedural grounds; and he authored an opinion upholding former Penn State President Graham Spinner misdemeanour child endangerment conviction in connection with Jerry Sandusky’s child abuse.
MORE ON THE RETENTION OF JUDGES
Retention elections are used in 11 states, including Pennsylvania, to confirm new judges, although they often garner minimal coverage in the media. By double digit margins, voters nearly invariably approve appellate judges’ succeeding terms.
Only one appellate judge’s reelection attempt has been denied by voters since 1968, the year the state constitution was last revised.
That was in 2005, and the state lawmakers’ vote to raise judges’ and lawmakers’ own salaries had left the public generally dissatisfied. That year, former state Supreme Court Justice Russell Nigro was up for reelection. Although he was unrelated to the pay increase, a general purge of incumbents cost him the seat.
A special election to replace a judge is held in the next odd year if they lose their retention contest. In the interim, the governor may choose a substitute, but the decision requires the consent of two thirds of the state Senate.
Even though there are only two statewide retention elections this year, depending on where they live, voters may need to cast ballots in additional races for Common Pleas judges.
Most criminal and civil cases begin in the commonwealth’s courts of common pleas, which serve as the primary trial courts. Here, you can find out if a judge in your county is up for retention.
In 2025, three state Supreme Court justices who were elected as Democrats will be up for election, potentially tipping the court’s balance, and there will be even more important retention votes.
January 2014 to December 2023
EDUCATION
Dickinson School of Law, J.D., Law Review, 1982
SUNY Stonybrook, B.A., cum laude, 1979
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Elected Judge of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2013
Partner, Dilworth Paxson LLP, and Managing Member of Harrisburg Office, 1992-2013
Associate Dilworth Paxson LLP 1987-1992
Deputy Attorney General, Office of Attorney General, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 1984-1987
Judicial Law Clerk, Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania,
1982-1984