Justice McCaffery gets the cheers

Seamus P. McCaffery was sworn in yesterday as a justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in a ceremony marked by cheers and praise from politicians, union supporters and others who helped him win the costly race for a seat on the state's highest court.

McCaffery, a Northeast Philadelphia Democrat who was the top vote-getter in the November statewide judicial election, thanked his supporters at a swearing-in that highlighted the intensely political process of getting elected to the court.

"My Teamsters - where are they?" said the new justice, scanning the audience as he thanked many of his supporters in organized labor. "They've always, always been with me."

"Trial lawyers - love you all," said McCaffery, who was lauded with a standing ovation after he was officially sworn in before about 400 people at the Convention Center.

There were ward leaders, elected officials, lawyers, veterans and Fraternal Order of Police supporters - and not just Democrats. McCaffery estimated that half the crowd was Republican.

The audience included U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan and state Attorney General Tom Corbett - Republicans - and State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, U.S. Rep. Robert A. Brady, and John Dougherty, business manager of Local 98 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers - all Democrats - as well as a number of Philadelphia judges and state Superior Court judges.

"He's just a well-respected judge who we're happy to see on his big day," Meehan said before the ceremony.

A former Philadelphia police officer who worked his way through Temple University's law school at night and drew fame as the "Eagles Court" judge, McCaffery has served as a judge on Superior Court, an intermediate appellate court.

But he long had his sights on the Supreme Court. He campaigned hard in all 67 counties, and his campaign manager, former City Controller Jonathan Saidel, said McCaffery was tireless.

"He was probably one of the best candidates I've ever seen," Saidel told the audience.

The four-way race for two seats shattered fund-raising records for Pennsylvania high-court contests, with McCaffery's campaign raising nearly $2 million of the $5 million raised.

Brady called McCaffery an "absolute people person" and predicted that he would do well as a justice. "He's going to make us proud," Brady said.

Dougherty said the new justice epitomized the American dream. "I think he will make the right decisions," he said.

While the event may have seemed like a political love feast, it was actually a ceremonial session of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, with six justices presiding over the official swearing-in of the court's newest member.

On Thursday, Debra Todd, a Democrat and state Superior Court judge who won election to the other seat filled in the November election, will be sworn in during a ceremony in Pittsburgh.

And Justice Ronald D. Castille, who presided over the McCaffery ceremony, will officially become chief justice in a special session Jan. 14 at the Supreme Court's ceremonial courtroom at City Hall.

During his remarks yesterday, Castille highlighted the need for justices to put aside politics once they are on the bench.

Because justices are elected in Pennsylvania, Castille said, "sometimes it's referred to in political terms as either a Democratic or Republican court. These references are inaccurate."

Justices, he said, "are not elected to serve the party under whose banner they ran," but rather "are simply elected to serve a higher calling - and that is to dispense justice."