Justice to go: state Superior Court to hear cases in Greensburg

Pennsylvania’s Superior Court is taking its show on the road.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court will hear more than 40 cases at the Westmoreland County Courthouse in Greensburg on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Superior Court normally hears arguments on appeals in Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, but periodically visits other locations around the state for special sessions. According to a news release from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, the traveling court is designed to give access to the appeals courts to residents throughout the state.

“It’s been 28 years since the court last appeared here, so it’s a big deal for us,” said Diane Krivoniak, executive director of the Westmoreland County Bar Association.

Judge Jacqueline O. Shogan of Murrysville will preside over the judicial panel that includes Judges Anne E. Lazarus and Judith Ference Olson to hear arguments in criminal, domestic and civil cases.

The Superior Court, created in 1895 as one of two intermediate appeals courts, dockets more than 100,000 filings a year and decides more than 8,000 individual appeals.

This week’s court sessions will take place in the county’s ceremonial courtroom of Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio.

Krivoniak said about 200 high school students from throughout Westmoreland County are expected to attend the court sessions.

Superior Court judges traveled to Lycoming and Luzerne counties for sessions earlier this year.