Tag: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Pennsylvania Voter Experiences Will Vary Depending on Their County’s Understanding of Election Rules

It’s been two years since procedures for voting and counting election results caused controversy and division after the 2020 election. Pennsylvania voters go back to the polls this week, with still-shaken confidence in the system, as inconsistent application of election rules abound. Voter experiences will be different in Pennsylvania’s 67 counties. For example, most counties…


Max Baer, Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Chief Justice, Dies

PITTSBURGH—Max Baer, the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, has died only months before he was set to retire, the court confirmed Saturday. He was 74. Baer died overnight at his home near Pittsburgh, the court said in a news release. The court didn’t give a reason for his death but called his “sudden…


Pennsylvania Supreme Court Won’t Hear Challenge to Constitutional Amendment Declaring No Right to Abortion in the State

Pennsylvania’s highest court rejected a request by Gov. Tom Wolf to immediately take up his challenge to legislation that would advance a proposed state constitutional amendment declaring there is no right to abortion in the state, along with four other unrelated proposed amendments to the Pennsylvania Constitution. The abortion-related amendment could go before voters as…


Pennsylvania’s New ‘Venue Shopping’ Rule for Malpractice Cases Will Worsen Doctor Shortage, Critics Say

A seemingly small procedural court change made by the Civil Procedural Rules Committee of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court is expected to have devastating consequences for public health in the state, according to health care advocates, but medical malpractice plaintiff attorneys are celebrating the change. In August, the court reversed its own 20-year rule banning “venue shopping”…


Pennsylvania Supreme Court Denies Republican Request to Throw out Ruling Requiring Questionable Ballots to Be Accepted

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has quietly dismissed Republicans’ application to overturn a lower state court’s order requiring that absentee and mail-ballots that lack a date handwritten by the voter be counted. Pennsylvania was a hotbed of election-related litigation during the 2020 presidential election. Although former President Donald Trump won the state in 2016, President…


Pennsylvania Supreme Court Denies GOP Request to Throw Out Ruling Requiring Questionable Ballots to Be Accepted

The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has quietly dismissed Republicans’ application to overturn a lower state court’s order requiring that absentee and mail-in-ballots that lack a date handwritten by the voter be counted. Pennsylvania was a hotbed of election-related litigation during the 2020 presidential election. Although former President Donald Trump won the state in 2016, President…


Pennsylvania Supreme Court Picks New Congressional District Map

For the second time in a row, the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court has chosen a new Congressional district map instead of the General Assembly, which is tasked with the job. For months, members of the General Assembly sought public input and worked to draw a new map. Republicans, who control Pennsylvania’s House and Senate, agreed…


Pennsylvania Supreme Court Refuses to Remove Radical DA in Cop-Killer’s Case

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out a petition filed by the widow of a Philadelphia police officer who wanted anti-police Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner barred from handling ongoing appeals in the case of convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal. Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther militant born Wesley Cook, was convicted of the 1981 murder of Daniel…


Pennsylvania Supreme Court Refuses to Remove DA in Cop-Killer’s Case

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court threw out a petition filed by the widow of a Philadelphia police officer who wanted anti-police Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner barred from handling ongoing appeals in the case of convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal. Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther militant born Wesley Cook, was convicted of the 1981 murder of Daniel…