Pennsylvania Prison Soc. v. Com.
| Decision Date | 25 July 2001 |
| Citation | 776 A.2d 971,565 Pa. 526 |
| Parties | PENNSYLVANIA PRISON SOCIETY; Julia D. Hall; Gregory H. Knight; Fight for Lifers, Inc.; William Goldsby; Joan Porter; Graterfriends, Inc., Joan F. Gauker; Vincent Johnson; Friends Committee to Abolish the Death Penalty, Inc; Kurt Rosenberg; Pennsylvania Abolitionists United Against the Death Penalty, An Unincorporated Association by Terry Rumsey and William Goldsby; Terry Rumsey, Roger Buehl, AM-7936 SCI-Greene; Douglas Hollis, AF-6355 SCI Coal Township, Dianna Hollis, Appellees, v. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania; Honorable Tom Ridge, Governor; Pennsylvania Board of Pardons; and Honorable Kim Pizzingrilli, Secretary of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Representative Matthew J. Ryan, as Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Senator Robert C. Jubelirer, As President Pro Tempore of The Senate of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Intervenors, Appellants. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Supreme Court |
D. Michael Fisher, Atty. Gen., John G. Knorr, III, Chief Deputy Atty. Gen., Calvin R. Koons, Sr., Deputy Atty. Gen., Gerald J. Pappert, 1st Deputy Atty. Gen., for Commonwealth, et. al.
William C. Costopoulos, Gerald C. Grimaud, Gregory H. Knight, Robert A. Preate, for PA Prison Society, et al.
Before FLAHERTY, C.J., ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, NEWMAN, SAYLOR, JJ.
This is a direct appeal filed on behalf of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Governor Tom Ridge, the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons, and the Secretary of the Commonwealth (Appellants) from the order of the Commonwealth Court granting the motion for judgment on the pleadings filed by the Pennsylvania Prison Society, Julia D. Hall and others (collectively referred to as the Prison Society). The Prison Society challenged the constitutionality of a proposed constitutional amendment to Article IV, Section 9 of the Pennsylvania Constitution that was placed on the November 4, 1997 ballot. The Commonwealth Court determined that the ballot question was null and void, as the single ballot question contained five amendments to the Pennsylvania Constitution in violation of Article XI, Section 1. We find that the ballot question in fact proposed two separate amendments to Article IV, Section 9, contrary to the separate vote requirement of Article XI, Section 1. Due to the unique circumstances underlying the proposed amendment to the provision of Article IV, Section 9, governing the confirmation process of gubernatorial appointments to the Board of Pardons, however, we conclude that the ballot question was not constitutionally infirm in this case. For the following reasons, we reverse the order of the Commonwealth Court.
The General Assembly approved proposed amendments to Article IV, Section 9 for submission to the electorate at the November 4, 1997 election. The text of the amendments provided that Article IV, Section 9 be amended to read:
The ballot question, which was submitted to the electorate in November 1997, read:
Shall the Pennsylvania Constitution be amended to require a unanimous recommendation of the Board of Pardons before the Governor can pardon or commute the sentence of an individual sentenced in a criminal case to death or life imprisonment, to require only a majority vote of the Senate to approve the Governor's appointments to the Board, and to substitute a crime victim for an attorney and a corrections expert for a penologist as Board members?
The Prison Society also filed a motion for a preliminary injunction and requested a temporary restraining order. On October 20, 1997, the Commonwealth Court entered an order denying the motion for a temporary restraining order. The court also scheduled a hearing on the motion for a preliminary injunction for October 30, 1997. On October 31, 1997, the motion was denied. The ballot question was presented to the electorate on November 4, 1997, and passed.
On November 12, 1997, the Secretary of the Commonwealth removed the case to the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. On January 5, 1998, the Prison Society filed an amended complaint in district court, adding as defendants the Commonwealth, Governor Ridge and the Board of Pardons. The district court remanded the state law claims to the Commonwealth Court on January 15, 1998.
In the amended complaint, the Prison Society challenged the ballot question as violative of Article XI, Section 1 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. Article XI, Section 1 establishes the procedure for the proposal of amendments by the General Assembly and their adoption by the electorate. Specifically, Article XI, Section 1 requires that "[w]hen two or more amendments shall be submitted they shall be voted upon separately." The Prison Society asserted that the ballot question proposed five amendments to Article IV, Section 9 that should have been submitted to the electorate so as to have each voted upon separately.
The Prison Society contended that the ballot question proposed the following five amendments to Article IV, Section 9:
The Prison Society asserted also that the ballot question amended Article IV, Section 8, relating to the Governor's appointing power, by requiring only a majority vote of the Senate to approve the gubernatorial appointments to the Board of Pardons.
The Prison Society presented a separate challenge to the explanation of the ballot question prepared by the Attorney General pursuant to Section 201.1 of the Pennsylvania Election Code, 25 P.S. § 2621.1, which provides in part:
Whenever a proposed constitutional amendment or other Statewide ballot question shall be submitted to the electors of the Commonwealth in referendum, the Attorney General shall prepare a statement in plain English which indicates the purpose, limitations and effects of the ballot question on the people of the Commonwealth. The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall include such statement in his publication of a proposed constitutional amendment as required by Article XI of the Constitution of Pennsylvania.
The Prison Society raised additional claims under state and federal law, asserting that the ballot question violated the voters' rights to suffrage and due process, that the amendments violated the natural and fundamental rights and due process of applicants before the Board of Pardons, and that the amendments violated the constitutional prohibition...
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