Christylee Peck, a candidate for a seat on the Pennsylvania Superior Court, sees herself as a “truth seeker.”
“When people ask me about my judicial philosophy they are really asking what kind of a judge I am,” Peck said during a stop Thursday in Clarion.
“I look at it as people coming to me for help. I take it from the approach of how can I help you,” said Peck, who is a Common Pleas judge in Cumberland County.
On an average court day, Peck will hear about 50 cases in the morning for criminal court and 150 to 200 in the afternoon for the Intermediate Punishment court. She is one of six judges in Cumberland County.
In addition to her regular cases she hears Children and Youth cases.
“That is something I really care about,” she said. “I volunteered to do all of those cases. It is a very sad area sometimes and it is a heavy weight.”
There are 15 members of the Superior Court who are divided into five, three-member panels.
Each judge issues about 300 opinions a year.
“If people don’t pay attention to the courts they are not paying attention to a third of their government. It is where the rubber hits the road,” she said.
“The Superior Court is the watchdog of county judges like me,” Peck said. “They make sure we are doing our jobs correctly. Every case that comes into the Court of Common Pleas, all of those appeals, go to the Superior Court. Everyone who goes before the Court of Common Pleas has the right to an appeal before the Superior Court.”
Judicial candidates aren’t permitted to discuss cases but, as a sitting judge, Peck can discuss issues she faces in that role.
“I sit on the prison board in my county and I have been involved with a fair amount of judicial administration. I hear what the warden has to say and we work on things that can reduce the amount of time during pre-trial where people are sitting in jail,” Peck said.
A problem facing local jails is the number of mentally ill being committed due to the lack of other facilities, she said.
Peck has received a recommended rating from the Pennsylvania Bar Association and endorsements from several police and firefighter organizations and unions.
Peck has lived in central Pennsylvania all her life and is the only Superior Court candidate in the Nov. 5 election from central Pennsylvania.
“It is harder running from central Pennsylvania and I knew that going in,” Peck said. “If you don’t have different perspectives from across the state I think the bench would be worse off for it. If you only elect people from the larger populated areas then you are not getting the same perspective. Our state is huge and you need to have those different perspectives,” she added.
Prior to being elected a county judge, Peck worked in the Lancaster County district attorney’s office as part of the child abuse unit. She then moved to the Cumberland County district attorney’s office, where she prosecuted violent criminal offenders who committed homicides, rapes, robberies, and crimes against children.
Peck, who says she has been a lifelong Republican, said her role “is to protect the Constitution and protect everyone’s rights regardless of their party. We are looking for the truth.”