HARRISBURG — In the Republican primary contest for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court — the premier race in the state's May 19 primary — the public image of the state's judiciary has emerged as more of an issue than usual.

Three judges are competing for the nomination — Superior Court judges Joan Orie Melvin and Cheryl Allen, both based in Pittsburgh, and Philadelphia Common Pleas Judge Paul Panepinto.

The Supreme Court hopefuls are among 22 candidates for a half-dozen open seats on the statewide appellate courts who will be jockeying for the support of Democratic or Republican voters in the primary.

All of the GOP Supreme Court candidates see room for improvement in the way the state's highest court carries out its constitutional duty to administer the state court system in the wake of recent cases involving judicial misdeeds ranging from ethical misconduct to criminal activity:

• A courthouse corruption scandal in Luzerne County that began unfolding in February left two former judges facing prison terms, resulted in hundreds of juvenile convictions being thrown out and prompted several civil lawsuits.

• Last month, a retired Superior Court judge from Erie began serving 46 months in federal prison for cheating an insurance company out of $440,000 while he was on the bench.

• In Philadelphia, at least three local judges have been accused of or punished for ethical violations.

Allen, who as an Allegheny County judge spent more than a decade presiding over juvenile cases, says the court system faces a "crisis of confidence." She is especially critical of the handling of the Luzerne County case.

While the Supreme Court suspended the judges without pay and approved a special master's recommendation to overturn hundreds of juvenile convictions, it did not step in until after the judges were charged with breaking the law. The Philadelphia-based Juvenile Law Center had asked the court to intervene last year.

Melvin, Panepinto and Allen all said they favor making attendance at ethical seminars mandatory for judges, as it is for lawyers, and changes to make the workings of the state's high court more transparent to citizens.

Melvin, who has served as a judge for 23 years at the local, county and state levels, earned some notoriety with her unsuccessful lawsuit seeking to refuse a pay raise that the Legislature approved for all state judges in 2005.

Panepinto, a Philadelphia native who has been a county judge in Pennsylvania's largest city for 17 years, said he believes his reputation in the populous southeastern corner of the state makes him a stronger candidate in the general election than either of his two Western Pennsylvania foes.

On the Democratic side, Superior Court Judge Jack Panella of Northampton County is unopposed in the primary.

Panella and all three GOP candidates received the top "highly recommended" rating from a state bar panel.

In addition to the Supreme Court, three seats are open on the state Superior Court and two on the Commonwealth Court.

Six Democrats are seeking nominations for Superior Court: Philadelphia judges Anne Lazarus, Paula Patrick and John Milton Younge; Allegheny County Judge Robert Colville; Allegheny County prosecutor Kevin McCarthy; and Lackawanna County Judge Tom Munley.

The Republican candidates for Superior Court are unopposed — Allegheny County Judge Judith Olson, Pittsburgh lawyer Templeton Smith Jr. and Tioga County lawyer Sallie Updyke Mundy.

For Commonwealth Court, six Democrats are running: Philadelphia Judge Jimmy Lynn; Pittsburgh lawyer Daniel Bricmont; Philadelphia lawyer Stephen Pollock; and Pittsburgh lawyers Linda Judson, Michael Sherman and Barbara Jo Ernsberger.

The GOP fielded three candidates for Commonwealth Court: Alfonso Frioni Jr., a commissioner on the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Appeals Board from Pittsburgh; Harrisburg lawyer Kevin Brobson; and Pittsburgh lawyer Patricia McCullough.