Court Opinion

ID: 9363325
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-01-13 20:07:27.232957+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:15:31.192627
License: Public Domain

IN THE COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA

Representative Bryan Cutler,             :
Leader of the Republican Caucus          :
of the Pennsylvania House of             :
Representatives,                         :
                                         :
                         Petitioner      :
                                         :
               v.                        :         No. 588 M.D. 2022
                                         :
Leigh M. Chapman, Acting Secretary       :
of the Commonwealth, The                 :
Pennsylvania Department of State,        :
and The Board of Elections of            :
Allegheny County,                        :
                                         :
                         Respondents     :

                                      ORDER

            AND NOW, January 13, 2023, upon consideration of the Emergency
Application for Special Relief in the Nature of a Preliminary Injunction (Emergency
Application for Special Relief), filed by Petitioner Representative Bryan Cutler,
Leader of the Republican Caucus of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives; the
Preliminary Objections filed by Intervenor Joanna E. McClinton, Leader of the
Democratic Caucus of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives (Intervenor
McClinton), and Proposed Intervenor Pennsylvania Democratic Party (PDP),
respectively; the Petition for Intervention filed by Proposed Intervenor PDP, which
Petitioner opposes; and Intervenor McClinton’s Emergency Application for
Disposition on Motion Pursuant to Pa.R.A.P. 1972 (Emergency Application for
Disposition), and the answers and Briefs in Support of and/or in Opposition thereto,
and following argument before a panel of this Court on January 11, 2023, it is hereby
ORDERED as follows:
       1.      Petitioner’s Emergency Application for Special Relief is DENIED, as
               Petitioner has failed to establish that he is entitled to the emergency
               preliminary injunctive relief he seeks. Specifically, Petitioner has
               failed to prove, inter alia, that he has a clear right to the relief he seeks,
               that he will suffer immediate and irreparable harm without the
               preliminary injunction, and that the preliminary injunction will not
               adversely affect the public interest. It is thus hereby ORDERED that
               the special elections to fill the vacancies in the 34th and 35th
               Legislative Districts of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives,
               currently scheduled for February 7, 2023, shall be held on that date.
       2.      Intervenor McClinton’s Preliminary Objection as to the nonjusticiablity
               of the claims made by Petitioner in his Petition for Review in the Nature
               of a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment is SUSTAINED, as
               Petitioner raises nonjusticiable political questions regarding which
               party in the House of Representatives has the majority and,
               concomitantly, who in the House of Representatives has authority to
               act as Majority Leader and issue writs of election for special elections
               to fill the enumerated vacancies following the adjournment sine die of
               the House on November 30, 2022, but prior to the House convening for
               the 2023-2024 session. See Perzel v. Cortes, 870 A.2d 759, 764 (Pa.
               2005); Sweeney v. Tucker, 375 A.2d 698, 704-12 (Pa. 1977).1

       1
       Because this Preliminary Objection is dispositive, the Court declines to rule on Intervenor
McClinton’s other Preliminary Objections.
3.   Proposed Intervenor PDP’s Petition for Intervention and Preliminary
     Objections, and Intervenor McClinton’s Emergency Application for
     Disposition are DISMISSED AS MOOT.

     Opinion to follow.

                             __________________________________
                             MICHAEL H. WOJCIK, Judge