Court Opinion

ID: 9706708
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-26 01:50:04.718512+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:22:24.595282
License: Public Domain

*282Concurring and Dissenting Opinion by
Mr. Justice Roberts :
I agree that this litigation should be remanded to the lower court so that the statutory mandate can be observed. However, the very purpose for which this case is remanded, i.e., the compilation of findings of fact by the court below, demonstrates that this Court should not engage in an extensive discussion of matters not necessary for the disposition of complex litigation. It is my belief that appellate courts best function when their decisions are linked to the facts of the litigation. In the absence of this factual framework, a court is forced to enunciate abstract principles which may later be regretted when placed in a factual context. Furthermore, what now appears to be an issue in this case might become irrelevant to the final resolution of this case because either the lower court’s factual findings resolve any dispute or the parties themselves decide to abandon a particular contention. This Court would thus have rendered a purely advisory opinion. For this reason I express no view on the various principles of law concerning the “non-procedural” issues in this case as propounded by the majority.
I must therefore dissent from that portion of the order here entered which requires the trial court to resolve the litigation consistent with the advisory opinion expressed by the majority. Since it is for the trial court to determine in the first instance the applicable legal principles in light of its factual findings, I believe that it should first frame the legal issues involved. Only then will this Court have a record adequate for review and I would postpone any resolution of the “non-procedural” issues until that time.
Mr. Justice Musmanno joins in this concurring and dissenting opinion.