York County’s legal and social services communities mourned the loss of Judge Penny Blackwell, an orphan-turned-innovator who — among many other achievements — helped establish the county’s mental health court.
Blackwell died at the age of 74 on Saturday, nearly a decade after she retired from the York County Court of Common Pleas. Friends and colleagues said she served with compassion and respect, stepping up as a mentor for many of her successors.
“She was always interested in doing something innovative,” retired Judge John S. Kennedy said. “I was impressed with her leadership.”
For the legal community, she will be remembered as instrumental in establishing the county’s mental health court as part of a larger wellness court effort. The courts — drug, adult mental health, DUI and veterans treatment — provide alternate routes through the legal system and offers an alternative to jail as they help people get at the roots of criminal behavior.
York County’s drug court was founded in 1997, led by Kennedy. The mental health court launched in May 2005 with Blackwell among those at the helm.
Blackwell took over as head of the drug treatment court four years later.
“Fortunately, I was given that assignment, and it is one that I very much wanted to do,” she said during an interview in 2009.
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“She recognized early that addiction and mental health struggles were often diseases and not choices. She believed those people could be helped and not just warehoused in prisons,” attorney Chris Ferro said. “That was evolved thinking 10 to 15 years ago, and a lot of people who have since been given a second chance owe a debt of gratitude to Judge Blackwell.”
The York County Treatment Courts Facebook page posted a similar sentiment Monday.
“Without her strength and vision our Mental Health Court would not exist,” the post read.
Highlights from her 22-year career, from January 1992 to January 2014, included expanding the court-appointed special advocates office in York County; advocacy for mediation in custody cases in family court; leading naturalization ceremonies; serving on a statewide elder law task force; and creating a program to have therapy dogs in her court, according to various sources.
Compassion and fairness were two presiding qualities that came out as people who knew her shared memories of Judge Blackwell.
“She was thorough and fair and had an excellent demeanor in the courtroom,” President Judge Maria Musti Cook said.
She also said, “York County was truly blessed to have such a dedicated jurist; she was truly a public servant.”
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Musti Cook recalled how she spent a lot of time in family law during the early years of her career, and she often appeared before Blackwell for such cases. Blackwell was also in the early days of her career as judge at the time.
She said Blackwell was dedicated to finding permanency for children in the foster care system, and that she was especially well-suited at interviewing children.
Attorneys had similar experiences with Blackwell as she heard criminal matters.
“The best thing about her was how respectful was of the parties in her courtroom, how compassionate she was, how willing she was to listen to all sides, how everyone’s case mattered to her,” said Ron Jackson, chief deputy public defender. “She was a wonderful human being, and she was a fantastic judge.”
Ferro called Blackwell a “remarkable woman and a terrific judge” as he said he appeared before her hundreds of times in criminal cases in Blackwell’s latter years as judge.
“She was tough when necessary. However, she will always be remembered by me for her kindness and humility. It came natural for her,” Ferro said.
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Debra Todd said Blackwell will be remembered for her commitment to public service, particularly in protecting senior citizens in the state. Blackwell served on the state high court’s Elder Law Task Force, which Todd chaired.
“The lasting impact she has made in the lives of elders and their families will be the legacy she leaves and the driving force for continuing the work she helped to start,” Todd said.
Todd called her a “wonderful jurist, staunch advocate and friend.”
Blackwell also used her role to serve as a mentor to women attorneys in the community.
Musti Cook said Blackwell was honest with her about the challenges about running for judge as a woman in 2003. That May, Musti Cook lost her bid for a nomination for one of the common pleas judicial seats.
“She encouraged me to try again,” Musti Cook said of Blackwell.
Try again Musti Cook did, and she won election to one of the two open seats in 2005 with more than 40,000 votes, or about 45% of the total in that race.
“It was a great honor and pleasure to serve with her on the bench,” Musti Cook said.
Blackwell’s mentorship and her work in establishing the wellness courts earned her the York County Bar Association’s Women in Law Jane Alexander award in 2010. The award is granted to local women who advance the legal rights of women through example, education and activism.
“Penny was a neighbor (of mine for 25 years) and friend to many, a good and kind person, as well as a tribute to the legal profession. She is greatly missed,” said Victoria Connor, CEO of the bar association.
Before she took the bench in York, Blackwell had a life of tragedy and adventure, according to her obituary.
She was born in Panama in 1948 while her parents served in the Armed Forces.
Her parents died eight years later, leaving her and her three younger brothers. They lived in a Texas orphanage for three years, the obituary shows.
A judge then separated the children into different families, and Blackwell was sent to family in Oregon in 1959.
“In this major life moment, Penny decided to become a judge dedicating her life to steering the justice system to be more respectful and kinder to all who interacted with it,” the obituary states.
As she grew up, Blackwell played volleyball and earned a spot to train with the Olympic team in Hawaii. She also taught herself to race motorcycles and won trophies for that as well, the obituary shows.
Blackwell also put herself through school by working various odd jobs, including one that involved writing columns for Ranger Rick magazine. She graduated first from Portland State University, followed by earning her juris doctorate at American University. One of her first jobs was serving as an attorney for the Environmental Protection Agency in Philadelphia, according to the obituary.
She married her husband, Dr. John Sanstead, in April 1978, and then moved to York. The two later had a daughter.
Blackwell, who formed her own law firm in 1982, took her first shot at judge in 1987 and lost, evidently to Sheryl Ann Dorney, the first judge elected to the local bench that year.
“She learned a lot from this experience and got to know the York County community by eating many variations on chicken corn soup,” her obituary states.
Blackwell tried again a few years later and was elected in 1991, becoming the second woman elected judge in the county.
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About 20 years later, Judge Kennedy remembered backing Blackwell in a bid to become the court’s president judge around 2010. The results were close, he recalled, but Blackwell ultimately didn’t succeed.
“I just felt that she would’ve done a good job,” he said.
Blackwell was also tapped to swear in Tom Wolf as governor in 2015, the year after she retired.
Blackwell died in hospice care from complications of Parkinson’s disease and Lewy Body Dementia, her obituary shows.
She left behind her husband John, their daughter and her husband, and their two grandchildren, as well as Blackwell’s support dog.
“Cooper will appreciate pets as he howls with grief,” the obituary states.
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Blackwell is scheduled to be buried Thursday in a private ceremony at Prospect Hill Cemetery.
A celebration of life event will then be held for her Aug. 19 at Unitarian Universalist Church of York, 925, S. George St., the obituary shows.
— Reach Aimee Ambrose at aambrose@yorkdispatch.com or on Twitter at @aimee_TYD.
