Opinion
No. 159 MM 2017
11-09-2017
LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF PENNSYLVANIA, CARMEN FEBO SAN MIGUEL, JAMES SOLOMON, JOHN GREINER, JOHN CAPOWSKI, GRETCHEN BRANDT, THOMAS RENTSCHLER, MARY ELIZABETH LAWN, LISA ISAACS, DON LANCASTER, JORDI COMAS, ROBERT SMITH, WILLIAM MARX, RICHARD MANTELL, PRISCILLA MCNULTY, THOMAS ULRICH, ROBERT MCKINSTRY, MARK LICHTY, LORRAINE PETROSKY, Petitioners v. THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA; THE PENNSYLVANIA GENERAL ASSEMBLY; THOMAS W. WOLF, IN HIS CAPACITY AS GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA; MICHAEL J. STACK III, IN HIS CAPACITY AS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF PENNSYLVANIA AND PRESIDENT OF THE PENNSYLVANIA SENATE; MICHAEL C. TURZAI, IN HIS CAPACITY AS SPEAKER OF THE PENNSYLVANIA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES; JOSEPH B. SCARNATI III, IN HIS CAPACITY AS PENNSYLVANIA SENATE PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE; ROBERT TORRES, IN HIS CAPACITY AS ACTING SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA; JONATHAN M. MARKS, IN HIS CAPACITY AS COMMISSIONER OF THE BUREAU OF COMMISSIONS, ELECTIONS, AND LEGISLATION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Respondents
ORDER
AND NOW, this 9th day of November, 2017, this Honorable Court, having determined that the present case involves issues of immediate public importance requiring this Court's assumption of plenary jurisdiction, it is hereby ordered that Petitioners' Application for Extraordinary Relief is GRANTED.
On October 16, 2017, the Commonwealth Court granted an Application for Stay filed by Respondents Joseph B. Scarnati, President Pro Tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate, Michael C. Turzai, Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, and the General Assembly of Pennsylvania. This stay is hereby vacated and the case will proceed expeditiously forthwith.
Under the continuing supervision of this Court, the case is hereby remanded to the Commonwealth Court and directed to President Judge Mary Hannah Leavitt for assignment to a commissioned judge of the Commonwealth Court with instructions to conduct all necessary and appropriate discovery, pre-trial and trial proceedings so as to create an evidentiary record on which Petitioners' claims may be decided. The Commonwealth Court shall file with the Prothonotary of this Court its findings of fact and conclusions of law no later than December 31, 2017.
Petitioners' Application for Leave to File a Reply in Support of Petitioner's Application for Extraordinary Relief, Application for Leave to Supplement the Application for Extraordinary Relief, and Praecipe to Provide Supplemental Authority in Support of Petitioners' Application for Extraordinary Relief, treated as an application for leave to supplement the Application for Extraordinary Relief, are hereby GRANTED. The Legislative Respondents' Motion for Oral Argument is hereby DENIED.
Jurisdiction retained.
Chief Justice Saylor, Justice Baer and Justice Mundy note their dissent.