At its February 14, 2023 meeting, the Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania elected its officers for the coming year. The Board unanimously elected Nancy L. Clemens to Chair, the Honorable William C. Wenner to Vice-Chair, and Attorney Scott B. Cooper to Secretary.
The 12-member Board is an independent Board within the Judicial Branch of the Commonwealth’s government comprised of 12 Pennsylvania citizens: three judges, three lawyers and six non-lawyer electors. The Governor and the Supreme Court each appoint six of the Board’s members. The Board’s members serve four-year terms, without pay, and no more than one-half of its members may be from the same political party.
Created by constitutional amendment in 1993, the Board reviews, investigates, and, where warranted, prosecutes complaints of judicial misconduct. If the Board, by majority vote, decides that there is probable cause to believe that a judge engaged in misconduct, the Board may file a complaint in the Court of Judicial Discipline where the Board must prove the charges against the judge by clear and convincing evidence. The Court of Judicial Discipline decides if the Board has sustained its burden of proof and also decides the sanction to be imposed upon the judge for any proven misconduct.
Clemens was appointed as a non-lawyer member on the Board effective January 20, 2020. Her term of service will conclude on January 19, 2024. A 1987 graduate of Bloomsburg University, she went on to earn her Masters in Criminal Court Management from Shippensburg University in 1999. Clemens serves as the Children and Youth Service Line Director for Service Access and Management, Inc. (SAM), overseeing all of SAM’s Children and Youth programming across Pennsylvania.
Wenner was appointed to serve as the magisterial district judge member on the Board effective March 14, 2020. His term of service will conclude on March 13, 2024. He served as a magisterial district judge in Dauphin County since he was appointed in 2003. He is a member of the Special Court Judges Association of Pennsylvania, Dauphin County Prison Board and other select Criminal Justice committees. He currently serves on the MDJ Court Security Task Force. Wenner is the former Chief County Detective for the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office, a position he held from 1995 until his retirement in 2003.
Cooper was appointed by Gov. Tom Wolf to serve as a lawyer member on the Board effective July 30, 2021. His term of service will conclude on July 29, 2025. He is a partner at Schmidt Kramer P.C., a Harrisburg-based personal injury law firm where he specializes in personal injury law with an emphasis on motor vehicle accident and insurance cases. He is a member and past-president of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice (PAJ), a member of the American Association for Justice (AAJ) and the Pennsylvania Bar Association. He currently serves as President of the Dauphin County Bar Association.
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4 Responses
Congratulations to Nancy L. Clemens, the Honorable William C. Wenner, and Attorney Scott B. Cooper on their election! It’s great to see the Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania doing its important work. Can someone explain more about the role the Governor and Supreme Court play in the Board’s appointments?
The JCB has known about Judge Zola in Hazleton for more than 5 years, including not living in his district, fixing cases in exchange for things of value and worse things we wont even mention on here. This is the same organization who knew and did not act on the Kids for Cash scandal in Luzerne County. Many child victims suffered for years because the JCB failed to do their job. Once again another Luzerne County Cover up at the hands of the JCB. They need better investigators too. The ones they have punch a clock and are waiting to retire and not break a nail. Do the math over 99% of complaints do not result in a charge against a judge. Hopefully the new board will immediately have Judge Joe Zola removed, if not this will be another black eye to put on their resume.
When are you degenerates going to arrest or remove magistrate Joseph Zola. Does he pay your salary or does the Taxpayers pay it. Do your job. What happened to that degenerate Francis Puskas? I guess he didn’t do his job and lost it.
JCB has been a sick joke for most of its history. Political hack staff saw no evil, heard no evil. Obvious misconduct by judges could not be discerned.