Court Opinion

ID: 9533259
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 04:29:55.695411+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T13:28:59.181085
License: Public Domain

Justice SAYLOR,
dissenting.
I agree with the majority that, despite the absence of statutory authorization, there exists a right to petition for expungement of a PFAA record which derives from considerations of due process and the protection of reputation guaran*481teed by Article I, Section 1 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. I do not agree, however, that the remedy of expungement should automatically be afforded in every case in which the proceedings did not evolve beyond the temporary order stage. Rather, particularly given the seriousness with which the legislature views protection from domestic violence, I believe that petitions for expungement in this context should be decided, following a hearing, by a balancing of factors analogous to those enunciated in Commonwealth Wexler, 494 Pa. 325, 330, 431 A.2d 877, 879 (1981). Accordingly, as I would reverse the order of the Superior Court but remand for a hearing on Appellant’s petition, I respectfully dissent.
Justice NEWMAN joins this dissenting opinion.