Supreme Court Denies Application For Reargument Or Reconsideration Of Act 13 Decision

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Friday, February 21, 2014, denied an Application for Reargument or Reconsideration filed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania regarding the Act 13 decision.  The December 19, 2013 Opinion and Order of the Supreme Court will stand.  However, in a dissenting statement, Justice Saylor wrote that, “I am fully in line with the position that ‘[f]undamental fairness to a co-equal branch of government, as well as adherence to this Court’s precedent and established procedure, mandates that the [Commonwealth parties] be afforded a reasonable opportunity to present evidence before any judicial proclamation is made about whether Act 13 satisfies the newly-mandated balancing test under Section 27’ of Article I of the Pennsylvania Constitution. . . . The judiciary simply does not possess the ability to divine the consequences of a legislative enactment absent a developed factual record.”