commonwealth-court

‘A new day’: Philly officials respond to ruling in Pa. public school funding case

BY: - February 9, 2023

'This massive step forward is still only a step,” Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, who chairs council's Education Committee, said.

Pa. court sides with plaintiffs in K-12 school funding case

BY: and - February 7, 2023

“It is now the obligation of the Legislature, executive branch, and educators to make the constitutional promise a reality in this commonwealth,” the order states.

Wolf asks Commonwealth Court to declare proposed amendments, including abortion ban, unconstitutional

BY: - September 26, 2022

Gov. Tom Wolf has renewed an effort to have a state court declare a package of proposed changes to the Pennsylvania Constitution – including one that would revoke the right to abortion and another to raise the voting age to 21 – unconstitutional. About two weeks after the state Supreme Court declined to invoke its […]

Court affirms OOR ruling, Real Alternatives does not have to disclose service provider agreements

BY: - July 19, 2022

In the final decision, Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon wrote that Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law “does not reach all records in possession of a private contractor that relate to the governmental function; rather, the records reached are only those that relate to performance of that function.”

Commonwealth Court finds PennDOT’s public-private partnership board bridge tolling plan invalid

BY: - June 30, 2022

A panel of Commonwealth Court judges said PennDOT's P3 board didn't follow the process laid out for initiating transportation projects, declaring a plan to toll interstate highway bridges invalid.

Commonwealth Court orders counties to count segregated undated ballots, report two tallies to Department of State

BY: - June 3, 2022

Undated ballots that arrived on time in the Pennsylvania 2022 primary election will count toward official tallies in the narrow Republican U.S. Senate race. But a Commonwealth Court judge has ordered counties to track how many there are.

Commonwealth Court hears arguments over counting undated Pa. mail ballots

BY: - May 31, 2022

The legal challenge brought by Dave McCormick aims to close the narrow gap by ensuring that counties count ballots received on time but were missing a date or were incorrectly dated.

State appeals court blocks Pa. carbon pricing scheme for power generators

BY: - April 5, 2022

A Pennsylvania appeals court has blocked a carbon pricing plan from taking effect. In an unsigned, one-page order issued Tuesday, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court said that the plan, known as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, could not take effect pending a full order from the court. The decision was first reported by the Associated Press. […]

Court date set for watchdog group, anti-abortion group in years-long battle for records

BY: - February 27, 2022

Oral arguments in the case pitting watchdog and reproductive rights group Equity Forward against Real Alternatives, a Harrisburg-based contractor that’s received tens of millions of dollars in public funding, are set to begin March 7 in Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth Court.

COMMENTARY

A state judge sends a strong message on Pa.’s local gun preemption law | Wednesday Morning Coffee

BY: - February 16, 2022

Philly's 'overwhelming blight of gun violence' should prompt a reexamination by the state Supreme Court, Judge Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter said.

Pa. school funding trial resumes in Commonwealth Court. Here’s what to know

BY: - January 5, 2022

The results of the case could reform how Pennsylvania funds its public schools.

COMMENTARY

Pennsylvania’s courts need more diversity, not dark money | Kadida Kenner

BY: - November 21, 2021

If Judge Lori Dumas wins a recount, she'll be the Commonwealth Court's first judge of color in more than a decade.