Judge Gary Silow of Norristown, PA; nepotistic loser

The state of Pennsylvania presented a law license to Gary Silow in 1981 after he graduated from Temple University Law School.

In November 2008, Gary duped the voters in Montgomery County into election as a Common Please Judge.

Gary found it perfectly acceptable to hire his wife Mary as his secretary at an annual salary of $53,775.

In addition to her salary of $53,775 a year, Mary also receives health insurance, 13 paid holidays, sick days, 2-week vacation, and pension benefits. Gary earns $173,000 a year; therefore he and Mary are knocking down $226,000 a year, which doesn’t include the cost of health insurance, paid holidays, sick days, vacations and pension benefits. The total cost to taxpayers may well be in the neighborhood of $300,000 a year.

The so-called Code of Judicial Conduct states that judges should make appointments “only on the basis of merit, avoiding favoritism.” It would be laughable for Gary to argue that his appointment of his mother-in-law wasn’t based on favoritism. Even more laughable is the fact that the comedians sitting on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court have determined that hiring family members doesn’t constitute “favoritism.”

Because Surpeme Court Justices, Court of Appeal Judges and Common Pleas Judges in Pennsylvania are held to a lower standard of conduct, they have refused to apply rules imposed on local district judges who are explicitly prohibited from engaging in “nepotism.”

As we speak (ca. July 2014), Mike continues to sit as a Montgomery County Common Pleas Judge in Northampton, Pennsylvania.