PA Supreme Court Declines to Hear Challenge to Governor Wolf’s Executive Fiat

Posted on by Joshua Prince, Esq.

In a major blow to constitutional rights of Pennsylvanians across the Commonwealth, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declined to exercise its King’s Bench jurisdiction to review the executive fiat issued by Governor Wolf regarding COVID-19. As such, the enforcement of the Governor Wolf’s Order will begin tomorrow (Monday) at 8 AM.

A copy of the PA Supreme Court’s Order declining to exercise its King’s Bench jurisdiction is available here. As the Court declined to exercise its discretionary review, it did not rule on any of the legal arguments contained within the challenge, including that Governor Wolf’s Order is ultra vires. Accordingly, any individuals cited for violating the Order will still be able to challenge the validity of the Order on statutory and constitutional grounds in a court of law.

Justice Wecht filed a Concurring and Dissenting Statement joined by Justices
Donohue and Dougherty; wherein, the Justices raised significant concern over limitation on the Second Amendment. Specifically:

I write separately because the present Application for Emergency Relief brings to the Court’s attention a deprivation of a constitutional right. The Governor’s Order of March 20, 2020, the “Order of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Regarding the Closure of All Businesses That Are Not Life Sustaining” (the “Order”), makes no allowance for any continued operation of licensed firearm dealers. In light of the regulatory framework attending the sale and transfer of firearms, the inability of licensed firearm dealers to conduct any physical operations amounts to a complete prohibition upon the retail sale of firearms—an activity in which the citizens of this Commonwealth recently have been engaging on a large scale, and one guaranteed by both the United States Constitution and the Constitution of this Commonwealth.

…

Quite simply, if firearm dealers are not able to conduct any business in-person at their licensed premises, then no transfers of firearms can be completed. This amounts to an absolute and indefinite prohibition upon the acquisition of firearms by the citizens of this Commonwealth—a result in clear tension with the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, Section 21 of the Pennsylvania Constitution … In my view, it is incumbent upon the Governor to make some manner of allowance for our citizens to continue to exercise this constitutional right.

I am truly sorry to all Pennsylvanians that our Supreme Court has chosen to sit idly by, while the Governor, through executive Fiat, eviscerates our constitutional rights and the General Assembly stands moot. Remember this in the upcoming elections.

If you or someone you know has had their rights violated by a Government agency, contact Civil Rights Defense Firm today to discuss YOUR rights and legal options.

 

Firearms Industry Consulting Group® (FICG®) is a registered trademark and division of Civil Rights Defense Firm, P.C., with rights and permissions granted to Prince Law Offices, P.C. to use in this article.

Published by Joshua Prince, Esq.

With our 2nd Amendment rights being attacked at both the Federal and State level, and the ATF (Burea of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) trying to close down FFLs (Federal Firearms Licensees) for minor infractions while making FFLs the scapegoat when the ATF's records are inaccurate, I want to take this opportunity to introduce myself. I am one of only a handful of attorneys across the US that practices in the niche area of law known as firearms law. I decided to concentrate my legal practice on firearms law not only because I am a shooter and firearms enthusiast, but also to ensure that our inalienable Right to Keep and Bear Arms is never encroached upon. I handle cases at the Federal and State level for both FFLs and individuals. At the federal and state levels for individuals, I actively defend the 2nd Amendment of the US Constitution and Section 21 of the PA Constitution, as well as, help individuals with: - License to Carry Firearms Denials; - Challenges to Erroneous PICS Denials; - Relief from Firearms Disabilities; - Estate Planning Advice; - Gun/NFA Trusts; and - 42 USC 1983 Actions for Deprivation of Civil Rights At both the state and federal levels, I represent FFLs and SOTs throughout Pennsylvania and the US regarding: - ATF Compliance Inspections; - Warning Letters and Hearings; - FFL Revocations; - Corporate Structure Advice - Indoor/Outdoor Range Implementation; and - Forfeiture Proceedings In following my love for firearms and firearms law, I have taught several Continuing Legal Education (CLE) seminars on Firearms in Estates and Trusts and Firearms Law 101 for several Bar Associations, including Berks, Cumberland, and Dauphin Counties. I also planned and taught several Firearms in Estates CLE classes for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI). While at Widener Law School, I was a member of the Widener Law Journal. I wrote an article on the Inaccuracy of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record (NFRTR). I also had an article published on Fee Disputes in Workers Compensation cases in the Widener Law Journal, Volume 18, No. 2. You can often find me posting on several internet forums, including Subguns, Uzitalk, AR15, and PAFOA. I also hold PA Firearms Law classes for local ranges to inform the public on the firearm laws of the Commonwealth. Following in my father's footsteps, I am also a Board member for the Pottstown Police Athletic League (PAL).

15 thoughts on “PA Supreme Court Declines to Hear Challenge to Governor Wolf’s Executive Fiat”

  3. Does that mean the people have to decide for themselves whether or not to stand up for their constitutional rights against the government if they try to in enforce and unconstitutional executive order?

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  4. Thank you very much for staying on top of things and keeping us informed. Is there anything pending for people that are being denied their rights by not being allowed to get firearms that were legally purchased. More specifically, can’t pick them up because the King said no.

    Apparently people can still get weed and liquor though.

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  5. Thank you for all that do do for us. This decision will only slow down the inevitable. Ultimately this disease like the others will only subside with herd immunity. As more people are infected the disease weakens. Closing down some businesses won’t stop it.

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  7. The fact that the Wolf administration had to revise the still-confusing “essential business” list AND delay implementation due to thousands of waiver requests shows how utterly scatterbrained his response to this pandemic is. I understand that things like tourist attractions are non-essential but slightly more perplexed at why workers in a business not open to the general public or by appointmemt only can’t simply be given strict PPE/no contact/periodic santization rules and allowed to remain open.

    He is going to bankrupt thousands of working class Pennsylvanians with his idiocy. The champagne socialists drawing money from their reserve funds to pay their utilities this month will be alright but the working class voter will not. Wolf may very well have already won the Commonwealth of PA for Trump this November.

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  12. Lawless governor given free reign to tyranny thanks to a derelict court.

    So when people can no longer pay their bills and child support can no longer be garnished, will we see riots? Will one form of mob rule check another?

    Appreciate all you do. The apathy of the meandering herd is far, far worse than any virus.

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  14. Thank you for all you are doing to help the people of PA. Please don’t stop trying. We need to come together and share this message so people WAKE UP and realize that there is no reason great enough to squash the Constitution! Germs will continue to exist, mutate and change, we can never “get ahead” of them. We also can’t live in fear because a life lived in fear is no life at all. Common sense should prevail–we the people are not too stupid that we need King Wolf to tell us what to do, how to live, etc.

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