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Posted by on Sep 9, 2016 in Round-ups | 0 comments

Friday round-up – 9/9/16

This week’s Court news is mostly about Sprague v. Cortes. CBS-Philly efficiently summarizes the deadlock, while Angela Couloumbis at Philly.com gives a more in-depth discussion of the present status of the case, and of the Plaintiffs’ efforts to keep the challenge alive. Meanwhile, an editorial in The Inquirer criticizes Justice Baer’s opinion in the case, and urges the Commonwealth Court to rule in favor of re-writing the question.

On the other side of the issue, State Rep. Kate Harper (R-Montgomery) offers this thoughtful editorial on Philly.com, urging voters to accept the constitutional amendment at the ballot box this November, and citing studies that prove the brain gets stronger with age.

Finally, The Sentinal brings you “Graves in the Valley,” a brief, but fascinating sketch of the life of Chief Justice John Bannister Gibson, who served on the Court in the 19th century.

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Posted by on Sep 2, 2016 in Civil, Constitutional Provisions, Elections | 0 comments

Cortes v. Sprague: Ambiguous Ballot Question Splits the Court

Pennsylvania’s courts have been the site of an unusual amount of unfolding drama this year, from the sordid tale of Bill Cosby’s fall from grace to the strange fight over taped depositions that turned into a question of SCOPA quorums in Dougherty v. Heller. But Friday’s ruling that an ambiguous ballot question does not violate the Pennsylvania Constitution has been one of the most bitterly lamented of the year.

For the past two years, the General Assembly has been moving through the slow and methodical process of voting and re-voting for a Constitutional amendment to raise the mandatory retirement age of judges from 70 to 75. The question finally qualified to go to the voters of the Commonwealth. But the timing could not be much worse. The vote will come against a partisan backdrop in which Democrats have been winning big in judicial elections of late, and Chief Justice Saylor, the second to last Republican on the Court, turns 70 in December, and will be forced to retire if the amendment is not passed.

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Posted by on Aug 29, 2016 in Civil, Family Law | 0 comments

In re Adoption of MRD and TMD: Twin Exceptions fail to authorize adoption of Twins

A Father leaves a Mother shortly before she learns she’s pregnant. With almost no exception, the Father has no contact with his Twin Children for the next eight years until he gets married and suddenly files for custody. The Mother, who has raised the Twins with their maternal Grandfather, wants to terminate the Father’s rights to the Twins to avoid a custody battle, and so Grandfather agrees to “Adopt” the children with her.

But the Adoption Statute isn’t designed to help avoid a Custody fight; it’s designed to allow a child to “bond” the new family unit, and so the moving parent must agree to terminate her own parental rights to the child to terminate the other parent’s rights, unless one of two exceptions is met: 1) where a parent’s new spouse is the adopting party; or 2) for “cause shown,” an exception that turns out to be every bit as pointless as it sounds.

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