John W. Herron is a retired American judge who served for 35 years on the Court of Common Pleas of Pennsylvania's First Judicial District, located in Philadelphia.
He was first elected in 1987, after having been one of the few judges in modern Pennsylvania history to be recommended for office based on a merit selection process.
[4] In 1986, a bribery scandal involving judges had enveloped the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
[7][8][9][10][11][12] Speaking to Pennsylvania's General Assembly years later, Casey stated that "regardless of the ultimate outcome, our duty to reform our judicial system is clear and immediate.
Standing up to powerful political forces, I appointed honest, competent judges - the Casey Five, they called them.
[4][18] In 2012, he ordered multi-fold increases in the fees paid to defense lawyers assigned to capital cases, to facilitate obtaining counsel for defendant's facing the death penalty and reduce a shortage of qualified lawyers willing to defend the poor in death-penalty cases.
This board co-ordinates the Court of Common Pleas three divisions, Trial, Family and Orphans.
[22] As Administrative Judge, in 1999 Herron issued the order creating the Commerce Court, effective January 1, 2000.
[27] Herron has called working with Sheppard to develop the Commerce Court his proudest achievement.
[4] In 2002, Herron was assigned to the Orphan's Division of Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas, where he served for 20 years until his retirement.
For example, this division has jurisdiction over affairs of nonprofit charitable organizations as well as those of individuals such as minors or incapacitated persons.
[31] Though the suit was not successful in court, Chapter 5, § 16 of Pennsylvania's constitution was amended in 2016 to raise the judicial retirement age from 70 to 75.
[14] • In 2011, Herron received the Philadelphia Bar Association's Justice William J. Brennan Jr.
"[39] • He served as Administrative Judge in Philadelphia's Court of Common Pleas for three three-year terms, including a consecutive six-year period.