04 Jul 2025 Free Speech Film Festival Judge Deborah Gross Aims to Fix the Courts

For Deborah Gross, the importance of judicial independence as the cornerstone of democracy is the focus of everything that she does.

As President & CEO of the nonpartisan nonprofit Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts (PMC), Deborah is not only passionate about the rule of law but also about ensuring that everyone involved with the Pennsylvania judicial system receives impartiality, fairness, accessibility, and respect.

Her work with PMC to advocate for judicial reforms that promote inclusion and access to justice is one of the many things that make Deborah the perfect person to serve as a 2025 Free Speech Film Festival judge.

Before starting her position with PMC, Deborah amassed over 35 years of private legal practice in federal and state courts all over the country, concentrating on complex commercial litigation. While serving as the Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association in 2017, Deborah focused her efforts on Philadelphia’s extraordinary legal nonprofit community and the invaluable assistance they offer to Philadelphians. She and the Philadelphia Bar Association received a commendation proclamation from the Mayor as a result of the work they did to establish clinics to train lawyers to assist lawful permanent residents in becoming naturalized citizens, which resulted in over 300 individuals attending the clinics.

At PMC, she works to uphold the organization’s mission, which is “to educate all Pennsylvanians about our courts and how to navigate them with confidence and provide resources to make that possible for all residents of the Commonwealth.”

In a 2024 interview with StudioC70, Deborah said, “Judges run on partisan ballots, so the composition could change based on the number of seats available. But I always like to say once the judge is elected, they serve for ten years; then they take off their partisan hat, and their allegiance is to the law. The reason I say that is, after ten years, they are reelected through retention elections. So when people will see ‘should this judge be retained’ on their ballot, those are nonpartisan elections. They don’t say what party that judge belongs to, because the whole purpose is to decide whether that judge should be retained based on his or her record, and how they performed as a judge.”

As it says on PMC’s website, the organization has aimed to be “a herald for judicial ethics” since its founding. PMC’s mission to fix Pennsylvania’s courts began in 1988 when a panel of civic leaders, public officials, legal professionals, and members of the judiciary discovered that confidence in the judiciary was “appallingly low, in large part due to the system of electing judges and the fundraising that goes along with it.”

Today, PMC continues to vigorously advocate for numerous judicial reforms, especially the merit selection of appellate judges and the selection of “competent jurists based on merit, rather than through partisan political elections.”

In its role as an advocate, community educator, and proponent for equal access to justice, PMC is also reimagining what modern civics education looks like. Its Civics Education Program brings volunteer lawyers and judges into the classroom to serve as teachers and teach a full curriculum on the government, the courts, the rule of law and civic engagement in a way it hopes will “help strengthen the connection between the courts and the community.”

In that same 2024 interview, Deborah spoke about how she tries to increase public trust and confidence among young people in the judiciary system.

“PMC taught a class in an alternative high school last year where the kids asked ‘Why should I sit on the jury? Why should I trust the judiciary? It’s all rigged.’ And I say to them, it’s not rigged. Judges adhere to the rule of law, not to a party. I take kids into courtrooms to see hearings, to see trials, to see bail preliminary arraignments, so that they understand that this process is really unique, and we shouldn’t take it for granted. So what we can do to instill faith in the judiciary is for people to come into court, sit in court, and observe.”

Deborah received her J.D. from Boston University School of Law and her B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. She served as President of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation in 2013 and 2014, as a Trustee of the Foundation from 2004-2020, developed the Foundation’s Cy Pres Committee, and served on its Fundraising, Grants and Finance committees.

She has served on the boards of many organizations, including Drexel’s Kline School of Law, the Public Interest Law Center, Philly VIP, Temple Adath Israel of the Main Line, and Women’s Philanthropy of Jewish Federation.

Free Speech Film Festival Award

Tickets for the 2025 Free Speech Award Ceremony are now available for purchase:
https://americaninsight.networkforgood.com/events/86490-free-speech-award