Megan Martin

Megan L. Martin (R) has worked in the legal field for 30 years, including positions in all three branches of government. As former Secretary-Parliamentarian of Pennsylvania's Senate (2012-2022), Martin "advised the chamber's presiding officer on how to run floor proceedings in accordance with the state constitution, law and chamber rules." (mcall.com)

Martin is credited for helping to make the Pennsylvania Senate "the first legislative chamber in the nation to provide full remote participation of its members during the COVID-19 pandemic." She was later "honored by the National Conference of State Legislatures" for this. (commonwealthlaw.widener.edu)

The state bar association "recommended" her stating her "substantial administrative law experience will serve her well." 

Recommended by Firearms Owners Against Crime.

• The following information is found in her Personal Data Questionnaire from pabar.org: 
  • During her time with the Senate, she served as the Senate Right-to-Know Law Appeal Officer, which "is a quasi-judicial role." Martin stated, "In this role, I reviewed Senate RTKL Appeals and issued legal opinions in accordance with the RTK Law. In this important role, I defended the constitution and adhered to the RTK Law as it was written by the General Assembly, and reviewed each appeal with fresh, independent, fair and impartial eyes." [pg 10]
  • During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Martin also served as the Chaplain of the Senate, stating she is "a woman of deep faith and thoughtfully prepared my daily session invocations, which strengthened my faith during those difficult times." [pg 10]
  • Before, she was Deputy Counsel to former Governor Tom Corbett from 2011-2012. She was also a former Governor Tom Ridge staffer from 1995-2002. See her Personal Data Questionnaire for more information on her work history.
  • Regarding COVID she said, "Throughout the COVID pandemic and throughout the duration of the administration of the current governor, judges on our highest court have made decisions that have resulted in the people losing faith in our judiciary. . . . The people are frustrated by judicial decisions that are really policy decisions to further a political agenda. These are policy decisions that our General Assembly members should be making, not our judges." [pg 29]

Judicial Philosophy 

• From Campaign Page 
  • "Megan Martin Believes In"
    • A fair and impartial judiciary
    • The rule of law
    • Protecting constitutional rights and freedoms
    • Holding government accountable
    • Public servants acting in the public's interest
  • "Megan . . . will be a fair and impartial jurist who will stand up for constitutional rights. Megan will not legislate from the bench and, instead, will apply the law as it was written by the General Assembly. She will ensure that, just like people, our government follows the law, too. Megan will be a staunch defender of the rule of law for the people of Pennsylvania." 
  • "Megan Martin shares our values of faith, family, hard work, and an admiration for the constitution, and holds a judicial philosophy you can trust. She will bring a deep respect for our republic, an understanding of separation of powers, and a reverence for the rule of law to our Commonwealth Court."
• From Personal Data Questionnaire
• "... I will bring to the bench a judicial philosophy that people can trust–I will be a fair and impartial judge who defends the rule of law, protects constitutional rights and freedoms, holds the government accountable, and always acts in the public's interest by following the constitution and the law. And, I will not legislate from the bench." [29]
• Referring to her work as an RTK Officer stated, "This work reveals . . . my judicial philosophy of strictly adhering to the law as it was written by the General Assembly." [30]
• "The people of this great Commonwealth deserve to have judges who are fair and impartial, who respect and defend the rule of law, who protect our constitutional rights and freedoms, and who hold the government accountable because, just like you and I, the government must follow the law, too. Our judges must be exemplary public servants who act in the public's interest, not to further any political agenda or their own personal agenda. We need our judges to be independent as our constitution created the judiciary to be. I will be that judge." [29]
• The following information is from PA Family Voter questionnaire:
  • Ronald Reagan best represents her political philosophy 
  • Samuel Alito best describes her judicial philosophy
  • A "strict construction[ist]" or "originalist" 
  • Agreed with "the US Supreme Court’s statement in Dobbs v. Jackson, 597 U.S. ___ (2022), that '[l]ike the infamous decision in Plessy v. Ferguson, Roe [v. Wade] was also egregiously wrong and on a collision course with the Constitution from the day it was decided'"
  • Agreed with "the US Supreme Court’s statement in Troxel v. Granville, 530 U.S. 57, 65-66 (2000), and Prince v. Massachusetts, 321 U.S. 158, 166 (1944), that 'the custody, care and nurture of the child reside first in the parents, whose primary function and freedom include preparation for obligations the state can neither supply nor hinder'"

Notable Right-to-Know Appeals

• Decided the Appeal of Bumsted, et al. (Senate RTK Appeal 02-2020) "This appeal presents the following question for review: whether the Senate Open Records Officer, when responding to a request under the RTK Law, properly redacted limited information (names of attendees at meetings with legislative staff and the legislative topics discussed) contained in legislative records of the Senate on the basis of legislative privilege." [8] Martin "affirmed the decision of the Senate Open Records Officer based upon a thorough analysis of legislative records, redactions, and legislative privilege." [21]
  • "The Requesters sought: '...expenses of the Office of Senate President Pro Tempore [.]" [1]
  • The Open Records Officer said "she redacted information revealing the individuals with whom PPT legislative staff met and the specific legislative issue or issues they discussed." [13]
  • Concluded that "[b]ased upon the formatting of the report, which includes several pages of unredacted information, and based, in part, on the Senate's declaration, it appears clear (certainly more likely than not) that the limited redactions are related only to the identities of the individuals with whom the PPT's legislative staff met, and the specific topics of the matters discussed - information that is clearly shielded by legislative privilege." [35]
• Decided the Appeal of Kennedy (Senate RTK Appeal 02-2019). This appeal "presented an issue of a requester requesting a large volume of non-specific documents from the Senate. I affirmed the decision below based upon a thorough analysis of various procedural arguments (requester must provide a copy of the request with his appeal; requester must address the grounds upon which he asserts the requested record is releasable and the grounds upon which the Open Records Officer denied the request; a requester may not modify, explain or expand a request on appeal) and the merits of the appeal (specifically of the request; request lacks specificity when it requires legal research; a request must seek records not answers to questions; request must seek access to legislative records; Open Records Officer may provide access to legislative records pursuant to section 704 of the Act)." [21]

Megan Martin completed the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Questionnaire.

Megan Martin completed the PA Family Voter Survey.

Spotlight PA article

Recommended by Firearm Owners against Crime.

Profile from the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference.