37 results for 'court:"Pennsylvania Supreme Court"'.
J. Brobson finds that the commonwealth court improperly held that Pennsylvania constitution delegated unfettered authority to natural gas distribution companies to determine the location of gas meters in historic districts. The Pennsylvania General Assembly never enacted a statute imposing any duty on the commission to locate gas meters in historic districts. Reversed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Brobson, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: J-70-2023, Categories: Civil Procedure, Constitution, Government
J. Donohue finds that the superior court improperly backed the trial court’s order of summary judgment in favor of a pair of parents ordering Nationwide to defend them under their homeowners insurance policy against wrongful death of one of their son’s friends who died of a fatal drug
overdose at their home. The interpretation that Nationwide owed a duty to defend in the underlying lawsuit because emotional and mental distress damages in the wrongful death claims were not bodily injuries was erroneous as a matter of law. Reversed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Donohue, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: J-39-2023, Categories: Civil Procedure, Insurance, Damages
J. Wecht finds that the superior court improperly affirmed the trial court’s decision to not award certain damages in this suit wherein a couple alleges they were fraudulently induced to purchase life insurance from a financial company. Treble damages under the Consumer Protection Law are available to the the couple in this case. Reversed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Wecht, Filed On: April 25, 2024, Case #: J-59-2023, Categories: Fraud, Insurance, Damages
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J. Mundy finds that the superior court properly found that there was evidence to support an adjudication of delinquency in this suit wherein one 12-year-old convinced another with an intellectual disability to lift up her shirt and expose her bra while on camera and posted the video on social media. The crime of transmission of sexually explicit images by a minor does not require exposure of the nipple in order to meet the definition of nudity; nudity is established where any area below the top of the nipple is visible. Affirmed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Mundy, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: J-68-2023, Categories: Sex Offender, Child Victims, Child Pornography
J. Wecht finds that the lower court properly denied a trust termination in this case wherein an alumnus of the Virginia Military Institute asked if its asset-controlling foundation could manage the trust rather than the independent corporate trustee who has been managing it. The burdens borne by the trust do not meet the statutory criteria for termination. Affirmed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Wecht, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: J-55-2023, Categories: Civil Procedure, Trusts, Wills / Probate
J. Todd finds that the lower court improperly dismissed a petition filed by a Philadelphia-area congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses who asked whether its leading elders are required to report suspected child sexual abuse under the Child Protective Service Law. Dismissing the petition and its motion for summary relief violated the coordinate jurisdiction rule. Vacated.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Todd, Filed On: February 13, 2024, Case #: J-47-2023, Categories: Civil Procedure, Government, Jurisdiction
J. Todd finds that the lower court properly dismissed this case concerning defendant’s sentencing for sodomizing another child when he was 15 years old. Although the juvenile court previously denied defendant his right to be free from compulsory self-incrimination by considering his refusal to admit guilt for the criminal offenses, defendant is not entitled to a new juvenile certification hearing because he is now 27 years old and outside of the juvenile court’s jurisdiction. Affirmed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Todd, Filed On: January 30, 2024, Case #: J-83-2022, Categories: Juvenile Law, Sentencing, Sex Offender
J. Todd finds that an appeals court properly approved a plan of rehabilitation for the Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania filed by the state’s insurance commissioner. There is significant harmony between the plan and the insurance laws of its regulators’ states: Maine, Massachusetts and Washington. Affirmed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Todd, Filed On: January 29, 2024, Case #: J-54-2022, Categories: Civil Procedure, Insurance
[Consolidated.] J. Wecht finds that the lower court properly confirmed certain modifications to a recovery plan that were proposed by the Act 47 receiver for Chester County, a financially distressed municipality. While the plan may limit some local officials’ authority, the Pennsylvania General Assembly has indicated that such plans are permissible in cases where “local officials are unwilling or unable to accept a solvency plan developed for the benefit of the municipality.” Affirmed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Wecht, Filed On: January 29, 2024, Case #: J-34A-2023, Categories: Bankruptcy, Civil Procedure, Government
J. Donohue finds that the appeals court improperly dismissed a petition for review of the Pennsylvania Abortion Control Act filed by a group of seven abortion providers who had asked the court to determine that abortion is a right protected under the state constitution. The providers have standing to sue because provides Medicaid funding for childbirth but not for abortions, thus failing to maintain its obligated neutrality regarding reproductive autonomy. Reversed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Donohue, Filed On: January 29, 2024, Case #: J-65-2022, Categories: Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Constitution
J. Todd finds that the lower courts improperly relied primarily upon the marital couple’s multiple periods of separation in determining that the presumption of paternity of a child born prior to divorce proceedings was inapplicable. The marital couple’s separation prior to the filing of the paternity action does not necessarily preclude application of the presumption of paternity. Reversed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Todd, Filed On: January 29, 2024, Case #: J-61-2023, Categories: Civil Procedure, Guardianship
[Consolidated.] J. Wecht finds that the lower court improperly determined that a classified corrections officer was entitled to preference for a promotion he was passed over for in favor of a non-classified employee under Pennsylvania. The ascension of the unclassified employee to a classified service position with higher pay with the same public employer is did not constitute a “promotion,” the scenario where preference would be relevant; it constitutes an appointment because it is based on merit. Reversed in part.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Wecht, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: J-26A-2023, Categories: Civil Procedure, Employment, Government
J. Donohue finds that the lower court improperly dismissed a group of Pennsylvania casino owners complaint against the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue alleging that lottery games offered online “impermissibly simulate slot machines,” thereby infringing on the casino owners’ share of the online market in violation of state law. To determine whether the online lottery game violates the state prohibition against simulating a slot machine will require a subjective assessment of the game’s appearance and effect when in play. Vacated.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Donohue, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: J-18-2023, Categories: Civil Procedure, Government, Business Practices
J. Donohue finds that the lower court’s order sustaining the Department of Corrections’ preliminary objections to a prisoner’s timely filed petition alleging that he was denied his procedural due process rights when the department deducted certain payments from his prison-account deposits. The department violated the prisoner’s procedural due process rights when it increased the rate of his deductions without pre-deprivation notice and an opportunity to be heard. Reversed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Donohue, Filed On: December 19, 2023, Case #: J-32-2023, Categories: Civil Procedure, Due Process
[Consolidated.] J. Donohue finds that the superior court improperly reversed a lower court’s denial of defendant’s Post Conviction Relief Act petition for relief alleging that her counsel was ineffective at the trial for her murder of her newborn who she suffocated by placing in plastic bags. The decision ignored the lower court’s credibility determinations. Vacated.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Donohue, Filed On: November 24, 2023, Case #: J-35A-2023, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Murder, Sentencing
J. Todd finds that the superior court properly found that a bipolar, schizophrenic murderer cannot pursue this medical malpractice complaint seeking compensatory damages against his treating psychiatrist and health care providers, claiming that his criminal conduct was the result of his psychiatrist’s grossly negligent treatment. The “no felony conviction recovery” rule blocks the murderer from profiting off his own criminal conduct. Affirmed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Todd, Filed On: November 24, 2023, Case #: J-8A-B-2023, Categories: Civil Procedure, Damages, Medical Malpractice
J. Todd finds that the lower court properly found that Philadelphia did not unconstitutionally discriminate against interstate commerce by subjecting a Philadelphia resident who worked exclusively out of state to its wage tax. Philadelphia’s tax scheme is both internally and externally consistent and is not discriminatory against interstate commerce. Affirmed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Todd, Filed On: November 24, 2023, Case #: J-5A-B-2023, Categories: Civil Procedure, Government, Tax
J. Dougherty finds that the superior court properly reversed a venue transfer in this couple’s product liability case alleging negligent lawn mower design following a husband being thrown off the mower and having his legs run over by the blades. The proper venue is Philadelphia County since the record fails to indicate that the company’s products were not regularly available for sale there. Affirmed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Dougherty, Filed On: November 24, 2023, Case #: J-6-2023, Categories: Civil Procedure, Product Liability, Jurisdiction
J. Todd finds that the lower court improperly ordered a pair of registered Republican voters to pay the counsel fees incurred by Michael Doyle, a candidate for the Republican nomination to represent Pennsylvania’s 12th Congressional District, because they objected to his having the correct number of signatures to run in the May 2022 primary election. The court abused its discretion in ordering the objectors to pay such fees. Reversed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Todd, Filed On: November 24, 2023, Case #: J-36-2023, Categories: Elections, Government, Attorney Fees
J. Brobson finds that the lower court improperly preliminarily enjoined the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation from proceeding with any action for the debarment of the suing contractor as a prequalified bidder on PennDOT construction contracts based upon criminal charges filed against the contractor. The court failed to exercise equitable jurisdiction to award the contractor preliminary injunctive relief in this matter. Reversed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Brobson, Filed On: November 24, 2023, Case #: J-15-2023, Categories: Government, Jurisdiction, Contract
J. Mundy finds that the lower court properly vacated defendant’s convictions for murder of the first degree, kidnapping and rape of a woman in 1990 and his resulting death sentence. The lower court failed to disclose psychological reports of a key witness against defendant in this case. Affirmed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Mundy, Filed On: October 23, 2023, Case #: J-11-2023, Categories: Murder, Sentencing, Witnesses
J. Todd finds that the superior court properly held that a trial court lacks jurisdiction to correct a patent and obvious error in a sentencing order when when the correction request was filed outside the time limitations of the Post Conviction Relief Act. The time limitations bar the trial court from correcting the error. Affirmed.
Court: Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Judge: Todd, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: J-19-2023, Categories: Sentencing, Assault, Kidnapping