Women’s Initiative

Anna Jewart Co-Authors Legal Intelligencer

Pennsylvania municipalities are empowered not only to adopt ordinances and enforce them but to establish fines and penalties for violations of the same. However, municipalities are creatures of statute and authorized only to act within the bounds of the powers granted to them by the General Assembly. In their recent article, Accumulating Accountability: Commonwealth Court Reviews Constitutional Limits on Cumulative Municipal Fines, Attorneys Michael Korns and Anna Skipper Jewart explain that the power of a municipality to seek fines and penalties is not only limited by the state statute that authorizes it but confined by the protections of the state and U.S. Constitution. To read the full article, click here.

Anna Hosack Co-Authors Legal Intelligencer Article

On November 20, 2024, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of state preemptive firearm laws that prohibit municipalities from passing local gun regulations. Attorneys Michael T. Korns and Anna Hosack discuss the implications of this decision for municipalities on gun regulation in Pennsylvania.

To read the full article, click here.

Anna Hosack Co-Authors Legal Intelligencer Article

In her recent article Seeing the Forest for the Trees: Understanding How Original Jurisdiction in ACRE Cases Impacts Your Municipality with Michael Korns, Anna Hosack discusses a recent opinion from the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court that shows the dangers of relying solely on the MPC procedural rules when other statutes are also potentially in play and highlights the importance of understanding when the normal day to day protocols of the MPC may be superseded by other laws. To view the full article, click here.