Tag: pennsylvania
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Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court rules that 2019 Marsy’s Law ballot measure violated state constitution
On January 7, 2021, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court ruled that a ballot measure for Marsy’s Law, a type of crime victims’ rights amendment, violated the Pennsylvania Constitution. Pennsylvanians voted 74% to 26% in favor of Marsy’s Law at the election on November 5, 2019. Results were never certified, however, according to a court order. The…
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Pennsylvania voters could decide as many as eight constitutional amendments in 2021 or 2022
In Pennsylvania, the average number of statewide ballot measures for a single year is less than 1. In 2021 or 2022, Pennsylvanians could vote on upwards of eight ballot measures that address electoral and voting policies, legal language and actions, and the governor’s emergency powers. For an amendment to appear on a statewide ballot the…
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Conor Lamb wins re-election to Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District
Incumbent Conor Lamb (D) defeated challenger Sean Parnell (R) in Pennsylvania’s 17th Congressional District. Lamb was first elected in a March 2018 special election for the remainder of Tim Murphy’s (R) term in what was then the 18th Congressional District. Lamb defeated Rick Saccone (R) 49.9% to 49.5% to flip the seat. Following court-ordered redistricting…
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Perry wins re-election in Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District
Incumbent Rep. Scott Perry (R) defeated Eugene DePasquale (D) in the general election for Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District. Perry was first elected to represent Pennsylvania’s 4th Congressional District in 2012. Following court-ordered redistricting in 2018, he was elected to the 10th District. In 2018, Perry defeated George Scott (D) 51.3% to 48.7%. Heading into the…
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Toomey announces he won’t run for re-election to U.S. Senate in 2022
On Oct. 5, U.S. Senator Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) announced that he would not seek re-election to the U.S. Senate and would be retiring from Congress. Toomey also stated that he would not run for governor of Pennsylvania in 2022. At a press conference, Toomey said, “I will not be running for reelection in 2022 and…
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Federal judge finds Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 orders unconstitutional
On September 14, 2020, Judge William Stickman IV, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, struck down some of Penn. Gov. Tom Wolf’s (D) COVID-19 orders as violations of rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Various Pennsylvania counties, businesses, and elected officials brought the lawsuit County of Butler v. Wolf, which…
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U.S. Senate confirms two U.S. District Court nominees
The U.S. Senate confirmed Christy Wiegand to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and Brett Ludwig to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The Western District of Pennsylvania and the Eastern District of Wisconsin are two of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts…
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Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice expresses misgivings about judicial deference
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice David N. Wecht on July 21 issued a concurring opinion in Crown Castle NG East LLC and Pennsylvania-CLE LLC v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission expressing what they called “deep and broad misgivings” about the court’s practice of deferring to state agency interpretations of statutes and regulations. The case challenged the Pennsylvania…
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U.S. Senate confirms Hardy to U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
The U.S. Senate confirmed Scott Hardy to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania by a vote of 65-30 on July 27. The Western District of Pennsylvania is one of 94 U.S. District Courts. They are the general trial courts of the United States federal courts. After Hardy receives his judicial commission…
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Pennsylvania House Speaker Turzai Resigns
Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai (R) resigned from the legislature on June 15 to take a job in the private sector. He was first elected as a state Representative in 2001 and had announced in January that he would not run for election in 2020. Turzai had served as Speaker of the House since January…