September 28, 2023
Susquehanna University’s Adams Center for Law and Society will present the panel discussion Judicial Discipline at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, in Isaacs Auditorium, Seibert Hall.
The event is free and open to the public.
Panelists include President Judge Emeritus Susan Peikes Gantman and Judge Anne E. Lazarus, both of the Pennsylvania Superior Court; and Melissa L. Norton, chief counsel, and James P. Kleman Jr. ’98, senior deputy counsel, both of the Judicial Conduct Board of Pennsylvania.
The Judicial Conduct Board investigates complaints of misconduct against judges within Pennsylvania’s judicial system and, where appropriate, files formal charges against those judges found to have engaged in unethical behavior. The panelists will discuss judicial legitimacy in Pennsylvania and the role of judges in enforcing the law.
Susan Peikes Gantman
Gantman was elected to a 10-year term on the Pennsylvania Superior Court in 2003, and she won retention in 2013. She was elected by her peers as president judge for a five-year term from 2014 to 2019. In 2020, she took senior status on the court, and retired in 2021.
Gantman received a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts from University of Pennsylvania prior to earning her Juris Doctor from Villanova University School of Law.
Anne E. Lazarus
The first woman from Philadelphia to be elected to any statewide office, Lazarus was sworn onto the Pennsylvania Superior Court in 2010. In the following year, she was appointed to the Judicial Conduct Board and served as its chair.
Having received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Lazarus went on to earn both her Juris Doctor and Master of Laws in taxation from Temple University Beasley School of Law.
Melissa L. Norton
In her role as chief counsel to the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board, Norton manages and supervises the administrative activities of the board’s office, its staff attorneys, investigators and support staff. Additionally, she directs investigations, makes recommendations to the board and, when necessary, prosecutes judges pertaining to allegations of judicial misconduct.
Norton earned her Bachelor of Science from Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and her Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law. She received post-doctoral training in trial advocacy and legal writing from the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.
James P. Kleman Jr. ’98
Kleman began his service with the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board in 2011 as assistant counsel. The board promoted him to deputy counsel in 2014, and then to senior deputy counsel in 2022. Prior to joining the board, he served as an assistant district attorney in Union County and as a law clerk for former Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Zoran Popovich.
Kleman graduated magna cum laude from Susquehanna University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. He received his Juris Doctor from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University and was admitted to the Bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania later that year.
About the Arlin M. Adams Center for Law & Society
The family of Sigfried and Janet Weis and The Degenstein Foundation of Sunbury, Pennsylvania, with support from the Annenberg Foundation, the Arlin M. Adams Center for Law and Society in 2001 in honor of Judge Arlin M. Adams H’85, a prominent jurist dedicated to public service and a longtime friend of Susquehanna University.
The Adams Center provides opportunities for students to receive hands-on, résumé-building experiences that connect to their research interests and career goals, including supporting internships and externships, visiting courts and law schools, attending national and regional conferences and professional seminars, and completing research projects in social and criminal justice. Through the Adams Center, students are also matched with paid internship opportunities with regional partners.
About the Arlin M. Adams Lecture
The Arlin M. Adams Center for Law and Society presents the annual Arlin M. Adams Lecture, which brings legal scholars to campus to present on and discuss relevant legal topics.
Learn more about Susquehanna’s Department of Political Science.