The state Supreme Court has named Superior Court president judge emeritus Stephen McEwen Jr. the chairman of the state reapportionment commission.

Remember, congressional lines are drawn through a regular old state bill. Lines for state representative and senatorial districts are drawn by the commission McEwen will chair.

Here's McEwen's bio and CV. Tom Ridge appointed the fellow Republican to the Court of Judicial Discipline in 1996.

From the AP:

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court is naming a senior judge as chairman of the Legislative Reapportionment Commission.

The justices announced the selection Tuesday of Stephen McEwen Jr., currently president judge emeritus of the Superior Court.

McEwen is a former Delaware County district attorney who was elected in 1981 to the Superior Court, where he served until his retirement in 2002.

He’s also a former president judge of the Pennsylvania Court of Judicial Discipline.

The commission will redraw the lines of Pennsylvania’s General Assembly districts to account for population shifts over the past decade.

The court chose the panel’s chairman after the four legislative leaders who are the other members — two Republicans and two Democrats — were unable to agree on one within the time frame allotted by the constitution.