GOP Lawmakers Want Allegheny County Judge Impeached

House Rep. Natalie Mihalek, R-Pittsburgh, speaks at a conference in 2023.

Five Republican members of the House of Representatives are calling for the removal of a magisterial district judge in Allegheny County.

It is not known whether the resolution will pass in the House of Representatives, given the Democrats’ limited hold on the House, but at least one Democrat in the House is known to support an investigation. Pittsburgh television station KDKA reported that Democratic state Rep. Anita Kulik has been critical of Magisterial District Judge Xander Orenstein and is calling on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to investigate.

KDKA also reported that Orenstein was removed from arraignment hearings in April after suspects facing serious crimes were also denied cash bail. One was accused of leading law enforcement on a high-speed chase and the other was accused of trafficking more than $1 million worth of suspected fentanyl.

Republicans Natalie Mihalek, Jill N. Cooper, Joshua D. Kail, Robert W. Mercuri and Marci Mustello have introduced a co-sponsorship memorandum for their upcoming impeachment resolution for Orenstein as a result of what Republicans call Orenstein’s repeated and deliberate failure to take reasonable action to lay. bail and security conditions for violent offenders.

They cite Orenstein’s decision not to set bail for Anthony Quesen, a man accused of brutally assaulting and robbing a victim at Point State Park and evading arrest, to walk free on non-monetary bail . However, failure to set bail may still impose other obligations on those accused of a crime, including mental health treatment, travel restrictions, or mandatory drug and alcohol testing.

“Although Quesen was homeless, charged with several serious violent crimes, and had demonstrated an avowed intent to avoid liability by attempting to evade arrest, MDJ Orenstein apparently determined that Mr. Quesen was not a flight risk or a danger to the community formed. ,” Mihalek wrote in her co-sponsor memo. “Predictably, Mr. Quesen not only failed to appear for his court appearances, but also committed another violent crime when he assaulted and killed Pennsylvania State Police Liquor Control Enforcement Officer Benjamin Brallier, who was traveling along the Montour Trail in Allegheny County had jogged.”

Valerie Gaydos, another Republican House member, has sent a letter to Pennsylvania’s Judicial Conduct Board to investigate Orenstein. Kulik not only calls for an investigation, but also asks Orenstein to resign.

Many in the legal field say impeachment is not the right action. According to radio station WESA, an NPR affiliate in Pittsburgh, a 2018 analysis of judicial impeachments by NYU’s Brennan Center for Justice found that only two state judges have been removed nationwide in the past 25 years, including one in Pennsylvania. That Lancaster County judge was fired for dismissing her own parking tickets and failing to file tax returns.

Republicans, however, believe Orenstein’s handling of bail in Quesen’s case is worth setting a new standard for impeachment.

“The public relies on judges to make decisions that balance the rights of the accused with the safety of the community,” Mihalek wrote. “MDJ Orenstein’s failure to faithfully and responsibly apply the laws of this Commonwealth to protect our communities amounts to a dereliction of duty. After all, consistently releasing dangerous violent offenders to the public without regard to the potential harm they may cause implies either gross incompetence or a deliberate disregard for one’s judicial obligations. Regardless of the cause of MDJ Orenstein’s failures, it is clear that his immediate removal from the court is necessary to prevent further harm and loss of life, uphold judicial standards, and restore confidence in the criminal justice system.”