Court Opinion

ID: 9728033
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 13:56:23.193886+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:25:45.251349
License: Public Domain

ZAPPALA, Justice,
dissenting.
I dissent and would assume plenary jurisdiction of the matter before us. For the first time the important issue presented here has been crystallized, providing us with an adequate vehicle with which to resolve the conflict. This Court should grasp the opportunity and, by the use of extensive briefing and oral argument, reach its final conclusion. In so doing, we would provide ourselves with the vehicle to intelligently establish this Commonwealth’s position on death qualified juries and revive our illustrious past history of being regarded as one of the polestars of jurisprudence in this nation, rather than a follower of popular trends in deferring all the hard, fundamental constitutional decisions to federalism, with its attendant buzzwords and confusion. In failing to so act, I must query my brethren as to what, if any, independent vitality remains in the Constitution of this Commonwealth and the rights it affords the citizens who choose to be governed thereunder.