Blackwell v. Com., State Ethics Com'n
| Citation | 527 Pa. 172,589 A.2d 1094 |
| Parties | , 67 Ed. Law Rep. 924 Honorable Lucien BLACKWELL, Member City Council of Philadelphia, Honorable David Cohen, Member City Council of Philadelphia and Honorable Francis Rafferty, Member City Council of Philadelphia, Appellees, v. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, STATE ETHICS COMMISSION, Appellant. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, STATE ETHICS COMMISSION, Appellant, v. Helen L.P. ANDERSON, et al., Appellees. M.P., an Undisclosed Elected Official, Appellant, v. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, STATE ETHICS COMMISSION, Appellee. WEST SHORE SCHOOL DISTRICT, Appellant, v. PENNSYLVANIA LABOR RELATIONS BOARD and Those Persons Purporting to Act on Behalf of Such an Entity and West Shore Education Association, Appellee. Honorable Lucien BLACKWELL, Member of City Council of Philadelphia, Honorable David Cohen, Member City Council of Philadelphia, Honorable Francis Rafferty, Member City Council of Philadelphia, Appellees, v. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, STATE ETHICS COMMISSION, Appellee. |
| Decision Date | 23 October 1989 |
| Court | United States State Supreme Court of Pennsylvania |
Before NIX, C.J., and LARSEN, FLAHERTY, ZAPPALA, PAKADAKOS and CAPPY, JJ.
In this appeal by the Commonwealth State Ethics Commission (Commission) the issue before us is whether our decision filed in this case on December 13, 1989, (Blackwell v. Commonwealth State Ethics Commission, 523 Pa. 347, 567 A.2d 630 (Blackwell II)), should be given retroactive or prospective application. We hold that that decision is to be applied retroactively to the instant appeal and to all proceedings pending at the time we announced our decision in Blackwell II in which the issue of the constitutionality of the Leadership Committee provisions of section 4(4) of the Sunset Act, 71 P.S. § 1795.4(4) was timely and properly raised and preserved by the parties.
Originally, we heard arguments in this matter on October 23, 1989, when we had before us the appeal of the Commission from the Commonwealth Court order dismissing the Commission's preliminary objections to a petition of the appellees, Lucien Blackwell, David Cohen and Francis Rafferty (Blackwell, Cohen & Rafferty) seeking relief from a subpoena issued by the Commission. Briefly, the history of this case leading to the original appeal in this court is as follows:
On or about June 19, 1987, each of the appellees, who were serving as members of the Philadelphia City Council, was notified by the Commission that he was under investigation for hiring his wife to work in his city council office, allegedly in violation of section 3(a) of the Public Officials Ethics Act (the "Ethics Act"), 65 Pa.Stat.Ann. § 403(a). The appellees Blackwell, Cohen & Rafferty responded by filing a Petition for Review in the Commonwealth Court seeking to enjoin the Commission from proceeding with its announced investigation. The Commission replied by filing preliminary objections to the said petition for an injunction. Blackwell, Cohen & Rafferty then petitioned the Commission for a stay of the investigation and all further proceedings pending disposition of their Petition for Review by the Commonwealth Court. The Commission denied the request for a stay and proceeded to issue a subpoena upon the First Pennsylvania Bank in Philadelphia requiring the bank to produce the bank account records of appellee Lucien Blackwell and/or his wife, Jannie Blackwell. The appellees, Blackwell, Cohen & Rafferty, inter alia, filed an Application for Special Relief in the Commonwealth Court seeking a temporary restraining order, a protective order and an order quashing the subpoena to First Pennsylvania Bank. After a hearing, the Commonwealth Court stayed the subpoena served upon First Pennsylvania Bank pending disposition of the Commission's preliminary objections. The request that the Commission be enjoined from continuing its investigation was denied. The Commission filed an appeal in this court from that portion of the Commonwealth Court order which stayed the subpoena. While the Commission's appeal to this court was pending, the Commonwealth Court heard arguments on the Commission's preliminary objections. In an opinion by President Judge James Crumish, Jr., the Commission's preliminary objections were dismissed. Judge James Gardner Colins, joined by Judge Francis A. Barry, filed a concurring opinion which raised a serious question as to the validity of the Leadership Committee procedure authorized by Section 4(4) of the Sunset Act which purported to extend the life of the Commission beyond the date it was scheduled to go out of existence. Under the view adopted by Judge Colins' concurring opinion, the Commission had gone out of existence as scheduled and therefore it had no jurisdiction to continue the investigation of Blackwell, Cohen & Rafferty. Armed with the arguments embraced by that concurring opinion, the appellees, Blackwell, Cohen & Rafferty filed in this court an application to quash the Commission's appeal. The application to quash the appeal challenged the very existence of the Commission after June 30, 1988 based upon the premise that the Leadership Committee procedure established by Section 4(4) of the Sunset Act which purported to extend the life of the Commission beyond that date was invalid. Subsequently, in an unanimous opinion and order authored by this writer and filed on December 13, 1989, we held that Section 4(4) of the Sunset Act, 71 P.S. § 1795.4(4) was an unconstitutional delegation of legislative power and therefore invalid and void. Accordingly, we quashed the Commission's appeal. Blackwell v. Commonwealth State Ethics Commission, 523 Pa. 347, 567 A.2d 630 (1989) (Blackwell II ).
A timely Application for Reargument was filed by the Commission and by the Sunset Leadership Committee in an Amicus Curiae Application to Intervene. In a Per Curiam Order filed on March 30, 1990, we granted reargument "limited to the question of the retroactive application of our decision reached in this matter on December 13, 1989." 1 In that order of March 30, 1990, we further directed:
In as much as the same issue of retroactivity is also at issue in SEC v. Helen L.P. Anderson, 2374 C.D. 1988 [130 Pa.Cmwlth. 608, 568 A.2d 1368], appeal filed at 10 Appeal Docket Middle District 1990, M.P., An Undisclosed Elected Official v. SEC, 44 Commonwealth Court Misc. Dkt.1989, West Shore School District v. Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, 15 Commonwealth Court Misc. Dkt.1990 [131 Pa.Cmwlth. 476, 570 A.2d 1354], and Blackwell, et al. v. SEC, No. 2222 Commonwealth Docket 1988 [125 Pa.Cmwlth. 42, 556 A.2d 988], plenary jurisdiction is assumed over all of these matters and they are ordered consolidated with this application for reargument.
Blackwell v. Commonwealth State Ethics Commission, 524 Pa. 403, 573 A.2d 536 (1990) (Blackwell IV ). A brief background of each of the cases we ordered consolidated with the application for reargument by our order of March 30, 1990, in the sequence in which they appear in that said order, is as follows:
I.
SEC v. Helen L.P. Anderson
No. 10 M.D. Appeal Docket 1990
The Commonwealth State Ethics Commission filed a Petition for Review in the Commonwealth Court seeking injunctive relief and a judgment against certain individuals who allegedly were public officials by appointment in 1986 and who had failed to file financial interest statements for that year as required by the Ethics Act, 65 P.S. § 404(d). The appellees, Francis A. Scanlon and Alexander Talmadge (two of the several persons so charged by the Commission), responded by filing a motion for judgment on the pleadings. Because the said appellees did not file an answer, that court treated the motion for judgment on the pleadings as preliminary objections. Appellees Scanlon and Talmadge argued that the State Ethics Commission lacked the authority to bring the action in that the Commission's life had terminated because the provision for postponing termination by the Leadership Committee was unconstitutional. The Commonwealth Court, in a Memorandum Opinion by Judge Craig, citing our holding in Blackwell II and the Commonwealth Court's subsequent ruling in Blackwell III sustained the preliminary objections and dismissed the suit brought by the Commission because of the Commission lack of standing to initiate it. On January 22, 1990, an order in accordance with that opinion was entered. The Commission filed a timely appeal at No. 10 M.D. Appeal Docket, 1990 from that order.
II.
M.P., An Undisclosed Elected Official v. SEC
44 Commonwealth Court Misc. Docket 1989
No. 57 E.D. Appeal Docket 1990
Appellant, M.P., An Undisclosed Elected Official (M.P.), was the subject of an investigation conducted by the Commonwealth State Ethics Commission. As a result of the investigation of M.P., the Commission entered a preliminary order. Subsequently, pursuant to the provisions of the Ethics Act, an administrative hearing was scheduled. Prior to the commencement of the hearing, M.P. filed in the Commonwealth Court a Petition for Declaratory Judgment and Special Injunction and Motion to Impound Court Record. Eventually, the State Ethics Commission filed a Motion for Summary Judgment which was argued before that court on October 4, 1989. In a Memorandum Opinion and Order filed on January 22, 1990, the Commonwealth Court concluded that because of our holding in Blackwell II the issue of the application of that holding must be decided before the merits of the case then before it could be reached. Further, the court order afforded the parties an opportunity to submit briefs to that court with respect to the impact of our pronouncement in Blackwell II. Our said order of March 30, 1990 intervened and we assumed jurisdiction, limited to the issue recited in that order.
III.
West Shore School District v. Pennsylvania
Labor Relations Board
15 Commonwealth Court Misc. Docket 1990
No. 28 M.D....
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