Opinion ID: 3023401
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The degree of insulation from political

Text: influence Like judges and unlike most executive officers, the board members here were removable during their terms only for cause. They were elected, but so are most of the nation’s judges; and many appointed officials are highly susceptible to political influence, which is generally exercised in the form of summary dismissal. Whether an official is elected or appointed is not in itself probative of anything at all in the “acts like a judge” analysis; the devil is always in the details. The key question for our inquiry is therefore whether the Board members here can be removed from office based on the substance of their official work. They cannot. Under the Pennsylvania Constitution, “[a]ll civil officers elected by the people, except the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, members of the General Assembly and judges of the courts of record, shall be removed by the Governor for reasonable cause, after due notice and full hearing, on the address of two-thirds of the Senate.” Pa. Const. Art. 6 § 7. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in In re Reese, 665 A.2d 1162 (Pa. 1995), interpreted this provision to provide the exclusive means of removal for all elected officials in the state, and to preempt 12 any other removal mechanism. Thus a mayoral recall petition was invalidated under Article 6. Id. at 1167. In this case, the constitutional limit on removal serves to substantially insulate the Board from political pressure.4 D. The use of precedent in resolving controversies We take the relevant question here to be whether the Board’s decisions are purely discretionary, or are constrained by outside law. Thus, though it is not clear to what extent the Board refers to its own prior determinations in reaching decisions, the Board is required by statute to consider in its deliberations the land-use standards set out in the relevant zoning ordinance, and to explain its reasoning in written opinions. 53 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 10913.2 (“The governing body shall render a written decision . . . accompanied by findings of fact or conclusions based thereon, together with any reasons therefor. Conclusions . . . shall contain a reference to the provision [of law] relied on and the reasons why the conclusion is deemed appropriate in the light of the facts found.”). This procedure is quintessentially judicial. E. The adversarial nature of the process 4 Indeed, under Article 6, if the Board members here had been appointed, they would not have enjoyed such protection from summary termination: “Appointed civil officers, other than judges of the courts of record, may be removed at the pleasure of the power by which they shall have been appointed.” Pa. Const. Art. 6 § 7. 13 The Board’s cases are adversarial as a matter of law. The zoning ordinance requires that all interested parties be given notice and an opportunity to appear and be heard, Salem Township Zoning Ordinance, § 603 B, F; prohibits board members from all ex parte contacts, § 603 J, and from inspecting the disputed site unless all parties are given an opportunity to attend, id.; and provides for cross-examination of witnesses and challenges to the relevance of proffered evidence, § 603 G, H. These are hallmarks of adversarial proceedings. F. The availability of appellate review A formal appellate procedure is probably the single most court-like feature a governmental body can have. Many of the safeguards listed above, for example the issuance of written decisions and preparation of transcripts, exist largely to facilitate appellate review. And it is a hallmark of courts, unlike legislatures and executives, that (with one exception) they do not consider themselves to be either final or infallible. Thus it is with the Board. By statute, its decisions are appealable as of right in the Court of Common Pleas. 53 Pa. Stat. § 11002-A. In the instant case, in fact, the plaintiffs, on appeal in that court, secured a reversal of the Board’s ruling. The features of the process that allowed the plaintiffs to pursue their appeal now immunize the Board members from this suit: precisely because that remedy was open to them, this one is closed. We conclude that the District Court’s reluctance to decide the question of immunity was excessively cautious. The Board members here were acting in a quasi-judicial capacity, and are absolutely immune from suit in their individual 14 capacities. Any actions against them in their individual capacities must therefore be dismissed.5