Bucks Writs - Summer 2017 - 3

contents
SUMMER 2017

CONTACT INFO
President
David J. Truelove
Vice President/President Elect
Jessica A. Pritchard
Secretary
Daniel M. Keane

President's
Message .......................................................................................... Page 4
Redistricting Reform: How a Citizens

feature

Commission Can End Gerrymandering, Return
Sanity to our Political Process and Even
Improve Our Economy

Redistricting Reform
How a Citizens Commission Can End Gerrymandering,
Return Sanity to our Political Process and Even Improve Our Economy

- By -
Theresa Martin
Golding

.......................................................................................... Page 8

t has famously been described as Goofy kicking
Donald Duck. Is it a cartoon drawing? A Rorschach
inkblot test? No, it's Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional
District, one of the most gerrymandered congressional
districts in the country. It stretches, dips, cuts, and curves
in a highly contorted fashion over five separate counties,
lumping together Pennsylvania voters from the Maryland
border with voters north of Reading and those living
east of Blue Bell.

Pennsylvania is one of the most
gerrymandered states in the country
- and there are numbers to prove it.
Quantitative analysis found Pennsylvania
to be one of three states with consistently
extreme levels of partisan bias.

feature

Is there a reason anyone should care? Haven't politicians
been engaging in gerrymandering since Eldridge Gerry,
its namesake, approved a salamander shaped district
in Massachusetts back in 1812? Whether you are a
Republican, a Democrat or an Independent, there is plenty
of reason to care.

Chapter 13: Isaac S. "Zeke" Garb

concerns of constituents. Elections are not competitive

CHAPTER 13
and are usually decided in the low-voter-turnout primaries.

Treasurer
Robert T. Repko
Past President
Grace M. Deon

Competitive Elections Create
Robust Representation

In 2016, in a shocking 57% of Pennsylvania state house
general election races, there was just one person on
the ballot. The opposition party did not even field a
candidate. Over 91% of races had an incumbent running
for reelection and 86% of races had no primary opponent.
Pennsylvania voters feel disenfranchised, and rightly so.
Pennsylvania is one of the most gerrymandered states in
the country - and there are numbers to prove it. The
Brennan Center for Justice, a nonpartisan law and policy
institute dedicated to improving our democracy, analyzed
- By The Hon. John J. Rufe, Sr. Judge

feature

Writs Editor
Scott L. Feldman
Writs Committee
Susan Dardes
Scott I. Fegley
Dianne C. Magee
Paul Perlstein
Christopher J. Serpico
David J. Truelove
Jason Weiss

Isaac S. "Zeke" Garb

With the advent of mapping technologies and voter
sorting software, partisan legislators now use very precise
tools to draw the district lines around the voters that they
want, creating exceptionally safe seats. When legislators
are in safe seats, they have no incentive to work with
their colleagues across the aisle or even to address the

hen I was a young lad,
19 or 20, I spent a good
portion of the summers
in my older brother Hart's company.
Hart Rufe was then a lawyer who was
active in the County Democratic Party.
He later became a Judge and is now
retired. I had the privilege of working
side by side with him first as a lawyer
and then as a Judge for our County. In
his company, I was introduced to a lot
of people as we travelled from Court
House to Justice of the Peace offices.
(It was in 1973 that the Constitution
of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania created District Courts and
eliminated the old Justice of the Peace
practice), and from political committee
meetings to kids' games, ice cream
sodas and other places unknown.

me, and finally said, "Aren't you Hart
Rufe's brother?" I had been found
out: here! on the other side of the
world! I learned from that, that you're
never far enough away to be free to
act like a fool, a lesson well learned!
The lady turned out to be Joan
Garb, Zeke's wife.

........................................................................................ Page 11

Judge Garb was fair, he
was pithy, he explained
his decisions, and he was
unfailingly courteous to
attorneys and parties alike.
ADAs were almost willing
to pay to be assigned
to his court room.

One Saturday afternoon in June, Glenn
Supplee and I were roving the streets
of New Hope in search of a pair of dates.
While I was looking around in a New Hope Gift Shop,
Glenn was on the pay telephone which was at the end
of the small hallway. Glenn got a little bit loud and said,
"The one girl's OK, but the other is a real dog." I looked
up and noticed a lady staring at me intently. Because I was
in New Hope, on the other side of the world, I thought I
would say something silly about the remark. But I just said,
"He's right; she is a dog." The lady continued to look at

I became reacquainted with Zeke in
the summer of 1965. My brother
was chairman of the Upper Bucks
Democratic Committee and I was in
that Neverland between law student
and lawyer where passage of the
Bar Exam meant admission to the
profession. The Bar Exam at that time
was a two day, sixteen hour, all essay
exam and I was exhausted by the time
the two days were over. While the
terrible wait for results was on, I was
travelling with Hart to various venues
in the Democratic cause.

At this time, Bill Eastburn was the Republican Party
nominee for D.A., having defeated Ward Clark in the
primary. Disgruntled Republicans who supported Ward in
the primary would not go quietly into the dark, dark night,
and so negotiated a fusion ticket, uniting with Democrats
in the hope of overcoming the Republican Registration
and straight party choices. Ward replaced Isaac S. Garb on
the Democratic ticket. Zeke, humbly and gracefully bowed
SUMMER 2017

ORPHANS' COURT RULE CHANGES
- By Dianne C. Magee

hen I arrived as a baby lawyer in Bucks County in
the Stone Age, my legal career to date consisted
of one year of practice in New Mexico, where,
conveniently, the state rules of court were modeled after
the federal rules, and local, county rules essentially were
limited to proclamations which constrained the number
of pages for a brief. New Mexico, the 47th state, having
been admitted to the Union in 1912, as opposed to the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which was admitted in
with a few fits and starts, time stood still, and nothing
1787, had a seemingly modern court system. Imagine
happened. Thankfully, at least for the Orphans' Court, the
my surprise and confusion upon being confronted by
time seemed to arrive when new Pennsylvania Orphans'
courts still using Latin! What in heaven's name was a
Court Rules went into effect September 1, 2016 to cover
Prothonotary (most lay people still don't know this one)
all areas of practice in the Orphans' Court, except for
or a praecipe? And why did I have to be admitted to
guardianships and adoptions, and those missing rules are
practice in the County court when I already was admitted
supposed to be coming this year! The new rules eliminated
to Pennsylvania? I soon discovered that the reason
was Fegley local court rules, which had to be re-promulgated, but
- By Scott
that the practice before the courts varied dramatically,
only with review and approval by the Supreme Court
And,new
of course,
Dare
I draw
between
two seemingly
dissimilar
and it was imperative to read, study and know
the
local a parallel
Rules
Committee.
Bucks County
did promulgate
local they embellish. A fisherman's
pursuits
as
lawyering
and fishing?
is which
a vocation
rules of practice.
Orphans'
CourtOne
rules,
were approved.story is a tapestry appreciated by any age. In law,
storytelling is often left to trial lawyers, but find a lawyer
practiced, for the most part, indoors. The other a
he new
changed
before
Well over 20 years ago, though, hope arrivedrecreation
when Paul
who
fishes and you will find a good storyteller.
practiced, for the
mostrules
part,have
out of
doors. the practice
the Orphans'
Court
in fishermen,
some fairly dramatic (a
Kester, Bucks County's first and longest serving
court
When
I asked Google to compare
lawyers
and
non-sequitur,
in this
"watching-paint-dry
administrator announced that the Pennsylvania
the Supreme
search returned only an
unflatteringyes,
article
comparing
The Quest for Your Best
recommend
a thorough reading of the
Court was embarking upon a novel mission to
eliminate
lawyers
to a certain context")
species ofways.
fish. IWade
deep into
There hasn't
newand
rules.
the appreciate
meantime, the
heretraits
are the highlights
of been a fisherman in history who has won the
local rules and to usher in an era of essentially
statewide
both
worlds, however,
oneIncan
battle with every fish he hooked, nor a lawyer that hasn't
which
you
must
be
aware.
rules and practice. Then, years, indeed, manythat
years,
passed,
make a good fisherman also make a good lawyer
felt the disappointment of one that got away. Success is
and vice versa.
temporary. Failure is motivation. And learning is continual.

The practice before the courts
varied dramatically, and it was
imperative to read, study and
know the local rules of practice.

What

email submissions to
WritsEditor@BucksBar.org

Have in Common

The Art of Presentation

Optimism is fuel for the fisherman as it is for the lawyer.
Each occasion is another opportunity to apply one's skills
against a worthy opponent. And as he ages, I suspect both
the fisherman and the lawyer find more satisfaction in
passing on his craftsmanship to another so that someone
else's life may be equally enriched. 

A good fisherman knows he cannot throw anything into
the water and expect a fish to bite. A fisherman practices
the art of persuasion as much as any courtroom lawyer.
His objective is to persuade a fish that his offering looks,
smells and acts just like its natural quarry that it gulps down
without hesitation. If the bait or lure presented looks or
smells bad or acts unnatural, the fish will swim away. It is
much the same in the courtroom. If a lawyer's evidence
looks or smells bad or seems unnatural, he is unlikely to
persuade a jury to swallow his line.

feature

Thought and preparation must precede the presentation.
Careful selection of a dry fly to match the hatch along a
stream is as important to the trout angler's success as a
lawyer's selection of his words before oral argument. A
novice angler often allows the line to smack the water
alerting every fish present to his posturing. But the skilled
placement of flies or words in an alluring manner is a sign
of craftsmanship.

Advertising Contact
Alicia Lee
610.685.0914 x210
Alicia@HoffPubs.com
ON THE COVER: Dave Swartz of the Bucks
County Gilbert & Sullivan Society performing
in "Trial by Jury" as part of Law Day
COVER PHOTO: Dylan Gilheany

What Lawyers & Fishermen Have
in Common
Dare I draw a parallel between two seemingly dissimilar
pursuits as lawyering and fishing? One is a vocation

........................................................................................ Page 19

Perhaps there is some
similarity
aboutvast
making
a cast
Given
Boylan's
experience
in presiding in
and making a sentence - both must be accurate, graceCourt, it's not surprising that she's
ful, rhythmical andJuvenile
neat.

particularly interested in using early intervention methods to address young offender's
criminal behavior. The Youthful Offender's
Program is geared to criminal defendants,
Good fishermen tell aged
good stories.
draw from
the fit the profile of
18 toThey
24 years,
who
- Chris Serpico
richness of their experience, the humor of their gaffes, the
persons who may benefit from alternatives to
wisdom of their years, and the beauty which inspires them.
Rea Boylan was sworn in as a judge of the Bucks
traditional sentencing practices.
- John Moore

County Court of Common Pleas on January 3, 2000.
So as difficult as it may be for some of us "old-timers"
to imagine, she's now been a judge on the Bucks County
Bench for over seventeen years. These days, she spends
most of her time sitting in criminal court and Juvenile
Court, as well as administering Drug Court and several of
the Court's diversion programs.

STEVENS & LEE SCHWARTZMAN

SUMMER 2017

ISSUE: 1708
ORG/PUB: Bucks Writs
will most probably emerge from their situation without a
felony criminal conviction. Not so for the 19 year old who
was their co-conspirator. He or she carries a felony conviction
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for life, with all the attendant consequences that "scarlet
letter" can carry. Whereas if that young offender is deemed
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eligible for the Youthful Offender Program, he or she can
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potentially have the felony dismissed. In orderPDF
toEXPORT
qualify
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some cases, a thirty day program at Diakon, which
requires
an Outward Bound type experience. In some cases, scholarships are awarded to eligible applicants, as the costs for a
thirty day stay at Diakon can range from $6,000 to $8,000.

Judge Boylan is a graduate of Dickinson College and Law
School. She served initially as a Bucks County Assistant
Public Defender and later as an Assistant District Attorney in
this county. For eight years she practiced law with the firm
of Curtin and Heefner. She was also a partner in the law
firm of Boylan and Serpico for five years. During her later
years in private practice she served for several years as Bucks
County's Controller until she was named to the judiciary.

Judge Boylan also supervises Drug Court. Along with
Senior Judge John Rufe, a total of approximately seventy
defendants facing serious drug charges may be deemed
eligible to participate in Bucks County Drug Court. The
program, which has now been in existence for seven
years, requires eligible defendants to undergo intensive
supervision, involving frequent court hearings, scheduled
to monitor the progress each defendant is making in his
or her battle to escape the scars of addiction. She is proud
of the program's 133 graduates to date. Often times the
motivation to apply for Drug Court is the defendant's
desire to avoid a possible state prison sentence which
tends to sharply focus the offender's goal of getting and
remaining clean. With so many years of experience in
dealing with drug offenders, Judge Boylan has learned
that "it's important not to sanction the relapse, as much as
sanction the lie that led to the relapse in the first place".

My interview with Judge Boylan focused on several of the
programs, primarily aimed at helping youthful offenders,
in which she has devoted much of her time and attention.
There are three programs she's been continually involved
with: The Youthful Offenders Program; Drug Court; and
the Community Accountability Program, or "CAP".

feature

Judge Rea Boylan
Rea Boylan was sworn in as a judge of the Bucks County
Court of Common Pleas on January 3, 2000. So as difficult as
it may be for some of us "old-timers" to imagine, she's now

........................................................................................
Page 22
Bucks D.A.'s Program

Given her vast experience in presiding in Juvenile Court, it's
not surprising that she's particularly interested in using early
intervention methods to address young offender's criminal
behavior. The Youthful Offender's Program is geared to
criminal defendants, aged 18 to 24 years, who fit the profile
of persons who may benefit from alternatives to traditional
sentencing practices. For example, if a group of three young
people are arrested for stealing a case of beer out of a
residential garage, they may be charged with felony burglary.
Let's assume that two of the youngsters are 17 years old.
As juveniles, not only are they eligible for an array of intervention programs offered by the Juvenile Court system, if
they comply with the conditions of Juvenile Probation, they

Gives Young Adults

A SECOND CHANCE

We also discussed the harsh reality that mentally ill people
are more likely to end up in jail when they can't get proper

- Megan Brooks

A felony criminal record affects a person for a lifetime
- whether it forecloses employment and education opportunities, financing for a home, or personal relationships.
But for some young offenders in Bucks County, the stigma
associated with a felony
conviction will not inhibit
them for rest of their lives.

assigned a pre-trial probation officer and appear regularly
before the Honorable Rea B. Boylan during the course of
their supervision. This regular and frequent oversight by
the Court of Common Pleas requires the young offenders
to engage in activities that
are designed to improve the
future quality of their lives.

The Bucks County District
Attorney's Office "Youthful
Offender Program" is a
pre-trial program for first
time non-violent individuals
between the ages of 18 and
24 who have committed a
felony. Successful completion
of the program provides the
offender the opportunity to
have the felony reduced to a misdemeanor. In recognizing
that these individuals are young adults, the program aims
to blend the goals of both the juvenile and adult court
systems: rehabilitation and accountability.

The Youthful Offender
Program is unique in that it
can be tailored toward each
participant's needs. In some
instances, participants are
required to obtain their GED
or to seek counseling. The
program also focuses on an
offender's decision-making
in an effort to ensure that
each participant is able to identify what decisions led to
the commission of his or her offense, with the hope of
decreasing the risk of reoffending.

The program also focuses on
an offender's decision-making
in an effort to ensure that each
participant is able to identify what
decisions led to the commission of
his or her offense, with the hope of
decreasing the risk of reoffending.

Bucks D.A.'s Program Gives Young
Adults a Second Chance
A felony criminal record affects a person for a lifetime -
whether it forecloses employment and education

........................................................................................ Page 24

Acceptance into the program is at the discretion of the
District Attorney's Office. Once accepted, participants are
placed on pre-trial supervision and are court ordered to
complete certain requirements. Examples of these requirements include community service, full time employment,
- by Nancyfull
Larkin
timeTaylor
enrollment in post-secondary education, and a
drug and alcohol evaluation and treatment. Participants are

THE RODEO
Past the storage units, the used car dealers, the Walmart's,
the CVS's, the pawn shops and the outlet centers towards
the middle of the Sunshine state on this late Spring
Saturday was the Okeechobee Rodeo. It was a gorgeous
day with bright blue skies no clouds, a nice breeze, warm
but not hot. I had secured two Groupons, which included
hot dogs and four beers.

The keystone to the program for many participants is a
requirement that they must attend the Diakon Wilderness
Challenge, in Boiling Springs, PA. Diakon is a 30 day
wilderness experience where individuals work as a group to
learn outdoor survival skills, gain leadership experience and
focus on accountability for their past criminal activity. Most
participants return from Diakon with a new-found insight
and a motivation to better themselves. Upon successful

boots, jeans, a heavy belt, a cowboy shirt and chaps. Many
24
spitting tobacco. Walking to claim my beer
I saw many
men backstage with arms in slings, necks in collar boards,
walking casts. There should be an Emergency Room on site.
No one wore a helmet.
The emcee on a lovely white horse ran a constant corny
banter with the clown in the Corrs barrel. Afterwards the
bevy of Cowgirl beauties sat at a table signing autographs
and posing for pictures for the little cowgirl wannabees.
"I wanna be a cowboy," said a little boy, "I want
to be a man." 

We parked and settled into the stands, right behind the
corrals. Three hours later, we had seen a real western
extravaganza. It started with the mini muffins, a dozen or
so five year olds who rode sheep for four or so seconds.
Most of them, girls too, wore cowboy hats and little leather
chaps. They ran to their moms after they were thrown off,
as proud as could be.

PUBLISHER
Hoffmann Publishing Group, Inc.
2921 Windmill Road
Reading, PA 19608
610.685.0914 x201
HoffPubs.com

When I arrived as a baby lawyer in Bucks County in the Stone
Age, my legal career to date consisted of one year of practice
in New Mexico, where, conveniently, the state rules of court

Lawyers & Fishermen

Judge Rea Boylan

Bar Association Office
Stacey Mulholland, Executive Director
135 East State Street
Doylestown, PA 18901
215.348.9413
www.bucksbar.org

Orphans' Court Rule Changes

e ...................................................................................... Page 16

feature

The Art of Storytelling

Writs Photographer
Dylan Gilheany

When I was a young lad, 19 or 20, I spent a good portion of
the summers in my older brother Hart's company. Hart Rufe
was then a lawyer who was active in the County Democratic

The local state representative gave a pep talk, ten Junior
Misses rode horses around the ring as fast as they could,
in gem colored fringed cowboy blouses and white hats,
carrying huge flags. The crowd was primed.
The first cowboys chased calves with lassos, jumped off
their horses, flipped the animals over and quickly tied three
of its feet with a rope, jumped up, threw their hands in the
air and waited for the cheer. 11 seconds, 16, seconds, the
winner was 9.8 seconds. They made it look easy.
Next were the lady barrel runners. The crowd gasped as one
horse and its rider fell over, and many barrels hit the dust.
After all, we were there to see a disaster between man and
beast but we knew man would triumph.

The Rodeo
Past the storage units, the used car dealers, the Walmart's,
the CVS's, the pawn shops and the outlet centers towards
the middle of the Sunshine state on this late Spring Saturday

........................................................................................ Page 27

Finally, the bull riders. These are crazy folks. They poke the
genitals of these beasts, purposely making them angry as they
try to sit on their necks for as long as possible. Few stayed
on more than three seconds. After the riders crashed to the
ground, they ran for their lives to get out of the way of the
charging bulls. Enter the clown. A daredevil among daredevils.
Men from Nevada, Montana, Kissimmee, Calvary, Texas
and many from Florida all wearing the same uniform,
27

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Also in This Issue:
* From the Editor
* 2017 BCBF Scholarship Recipients
* BCBF Golf Outing
* BCBA Law Day
* BCBA Annual Softball Game
* Pro Bono Honor Roll
* Tech Tips From a Recovering Geek
* Music Snob's Top 5 List

The written and visual contents of this magazine are protected by copyright. Reproduction
of print or digital articles without written permission from Hoffmann Publishing Group, Inc.,
and/or the Bucks County Bar Association is forbidden. The placement of paid advertisement
does not imply endorsements by Bucks County Bar Association.

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bucks Writs - Summer 2017