Title: Jimmy's Germantown Place, Inc. v. City of Philadelphia (Summary Disposition)

State: pennsylvania

Issuer: Pennsylvania Supreme Court

Document:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA EASTERN DISTRICT JIMMY'S GERMANTOWN PLACE, INC., Respondent v. CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, Petitioner : : : : : : : : : : : : : No. 11 EAL 2005 Petition for Allowance of Appeal from the Order of the Commonwealth Court ORDER PER CURIAM AND NOW, this 25th day of May 2005, the Petition for Allowance of Appeal is GRANTED. The parties settled this matter, and respondent withdrew its appeal sixteen months before the Commonwealth Court issued its order and opinion. Absent compelling cause, a court will not exercise jurisdiction over moot controversies. In Re Gross, 382 A.2d 116 (Pa. 1978). This case does not present an exception to the mootness doctrine. The exercise of jurisdiction over this moot appeal can be traced to an error in docketing the notice of withdrawal. This procedural error is best corrected by exercising our supervisory authority pursuant to 42 Pa.C.S. § 502. Accordingly, in recognition of the docketing error and the fact that the parties had withdrawn the appeal upon settlement of the controversy prior to issuance of the order and opinion of the Commonwealth Court, the order and published opinion of the Commonwealth Court are hereby VACATED. See Shafer v. Cascio, 135 A. 639 (Pa. 1927) (the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania shall exercise general supervisory power over the regularity and legality of proceedings in the inferior tribunals).