Jun. 21, 2018
HARRISBURG – Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R-25) and Speaker of the House Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) have issued the following statement regarding today’s
petition for writ of certiorari before the Supreme Court of the United States:
“Today, a petition for writ of certiorari was filed with the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and Pennsylvania Senate President Pro Tempore. The application requests the U.S. Supreme Court to take up an appeal of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s actions, which held the 2011 Congressional map plan was unconstitutional under the Free and Equal Elections Clause and adopted its own court-drawn remedial plan.
“The petition argues that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court violated the U.S. Constitution’s Elections Clause when it legislated from the bench adding new requirements for drawing congressional districts which do not exist in either the Pennsylvania Constitution or the U.S. Constitution. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court further violated the Elections Clause by implementing a remedial phase that did not give the General Assembly an ‘opportunity’ to enact a new map.
“It is important to note that this filing will have no impact on the elections this fall. Still, we believe the voters of Pennsylvania deserve an answer as to whether the state Supreme Court overstepped its authority. We believe it did.”
Representative Mike Turzai
Speaker of the House
28th District
Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Turzai Contact: Paul Engelkemier
717.783.1315
Scarnati Contact: Drew Crompton
717.787.7084
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