Fired Inquirer editor’s future is up to Philly Common Pleas judge

A Common Pleas judge is expected to decide whether she’ll restore Bill Marimow as editor-in-chief of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Depending on whom you believe, Marimow was fired because he was dragging his feet on changes needed to improve the paper, or because he resisted the meddling of one its owners, New Jersey businessman and powerful Democrat George Norcross.

Lewis Katz, another owner, sued after Marimow was fired because he says the agreement among the investors who bought the paper last year was that he and Norcross had to agree on major decisions.

Marimow’s attorney William Chadwick says the case is important because the independence of the region’s largest newspaper is at stake.

“Bill Marimow stands for independent, excellent journalism. His reputation across his career, his two Pulitzer Prizes certainly warrant to the public that they have a credible newspaper that they can trust,” Chadwick said Wednesday.

Judge Patricia McInerney heard three days of testimony on whether she should order the Inquirer to put Marimow back in his office.

She didn’t say Wednesday when she would rule, but even if she does order Marimow’s reinstatement, the debilitating conflict between the company’s two principal owners will remain unresolved.