PA+Courts+-+Current+Cases+of+Public+Interest

=PA Court Structure=

There are many cases of public interest currently being heard by the various PA Courts.
Each group has been assigned to a case listed below. After researching the current case, create a case summary to accurately and succinctly describe what happened in the case, in each level, and if given - the highest courts current decision. Be sure to include the essential question of each case and the relevancy of this to public interest. Take care to ensure proper wiki aesthetics are kept in mind (as this is part of the assignment grade, and that each cases summary includes a direct link to that cases information). This page is designed to help the entire class quickly learn the meat of each case.

All information will be taken from the PA Unified Judicial System website, found at PA Courts: Cases of Public Interest.

=PA Supreme Court Cases= ====**Commonwealth v. Curley-** The defendant Curley was operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol. When police gave the breathalyzer test he had failed multiple times. When Curley was charged he was taken to court and he argued that the admission of his failed attempts violated his constitutional right against self incrimination. The court disagreed and upheld the conviction. He had been operating under the influence of alcohol. He did sign a form indicating that he consented to take the test, even though he could have refused to take it so his point is invalid in the case. (Mary and Sarah)====

Marcellus Shale (Act 13)
The Marcellus Shale is a rock formation that underlies approximately two-thirds of Pennsylvania and portions of the states of New York and West Virginia at a depth of 5,000 to 8,000 feet. The Marcellus Shale is said to hold trillions of cubic feet of natural gas and has long been considered really expensive to access. To efficiently extract natural gas from the Marcellus Shale, it requires both vertical and horizontal drilling, and also a process called ‘hydraulic fracturing.’ More than 350,000 oil and gas wells have been drilled in Pennsylvania since the first oil well was made in 1859 by Colonel Drake in Titusville.

=PA Superior Court Cases=

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This case was about three sisters who were caught using one of the sister's state resources in order to further the career of Joan Orie. Joan Orie was a Pennsylvania Supreme Court judge, and one of her sisters, Jane Orie, was a State senator. Joan was charged and convicted of three counts of theft of services, misapplication of government property, and conspiracy to commit tampering. Using the senator's public state funds in order to campaign for her election is illegal, and she could have received up to 13 years in jail. However, she did not go to jail as she appealed her case. She was then given three years house arrest and was forced to pay $128,000 to pay for all the court fines and taxes.=====

Commonwealth v. Schultz
Gary Charles Schultz had known about what Sandusky was doing. He had written records of what he knew but concealed them. He was taken to court and was then found guilty for withholding information. After he was found guilty he filed for an appeal. Commonwealth filed to quash the request of an appeal for Schultz. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania granted the quash and decided against letting Schultz an appeal.

Commonwealth v. Deweese
Howard William Deweese is a former member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, representing Green Valley and some part of Washington Commonwealth vs. Deweese-Trials held in Dauphin County Courthouse Defendant charged with conflict of interest, theft of services, theft by deception, theft by failure to make required disposition of funds and criminal conspiracy. From 2001 to 2006 Deweese and another employee (Sharon Rodavich) were inappropriately managing taxpayer resources. Charges were finally made on December 15th, 2010. On July 28th, 2011 Deweese raised issues of inter alia but on January 6th, 2012 the court dismissed the issue and on January 23rd, 2012 the trial commenced. The commonwealth had a total of 10 witnesses and 69 exhibits that they proved was evidence against Deweese. Judge Todd A. Hoover sentenced Deweese to a 30-60 months prison term, $25,000 in fines and court costs and a $116,668.52 restitution cost. (http://www.pacourts.us/news-and-statistics/cases-of-public-interest/commonwealth-v-deweese)

Commonwealth v. Sandusky
In October 2011, Gerald Sandusky was accused of sexually assaulting young boys in the locker rooms of Penn State University from 1994 to 2009. The victims of the assault also said that Sandusky sexually abused them at his home and at his nonprofit organization The Second Mile. Of the 52 accounts that Sandusky was accused of, he was found guilty of 45 accounts of sexually assaulting a minor. Four accounts were dropped and Sandusky was found not guilty of three charges. The Superior Court sentenced Gerald Sandusky to 60 years in prison.

Commonwealth v. Stetler
=Superior Court Juvenile Sentencing Cases=

Commonwealth v. Jovon Knox & Commonwealth v. Devon Knox (twin brothers)
Jehru Donaldson on July 8 2007 drove his girlfriend to her sister’s house to pick up her nephew, age 9, to a baseball game. Waiting in the car while his girlfriend went inside to get her nephew, Two male twins came up to the car and one of the twins stated "get out of the car" the same twin pulled out a gun and placed the gun on Jehru's head and again stated "get out of the car". Jehru pushed the gun away and drove off, only to crash into abandoned house do to the one twin firing two shots at the car, which one of the shots got him in the head. The twins then ran up the street away from the car. While this was all going on the girlfriend’s nephew watched in horror. Once the police arrived the nephew identified the twins, Devon Knox and his brother Jovon Knox, as the culprits. They were arrested immediately. Jehru died the next day from the gunshot to the head in the hospital. Knox was charged with criminal homicide, criminal attempt - Robbery of a motor Vehicle, conspiracy - Robbery of a motor vehicle, and possession of a firearm without a license. Devon was identified as the shooter by the nephew. The nephew knew it was Devon because he was the lighter skinned of the two. In court the lawyer dressed the twins identically and switched Devon behind him and Jovon next to the lawyer. When the nephew was asked to point to the shooter he identified Jovon as the shooter instead of Devon. This caused the court to be adjourned and the boys had to be re-finger printed and re-braceleted. Both Devon and Jovon were giving mandatory life without parole, which is now being appealed because it goes against their 8th amendment.

=Commonwealth Court=

Voter/Photo ID Law (Act 18)
Prior to establishing Act 18, identification at the voting polls was not an issue. With changes trying to be made, voters may have had to show identification before voting. It drew controversy due to the fact that many citizens of Pennsylvania did not own an ID. To own an ID, one must have a street address, making it a struggle for homeless citizens to vote. Pennsylvania was not all for or all against this new law. Despite numerous efforts, the act was not passed. Now ID's are recommended but not required at the voting polls.

Montgomery County Same-Sex Marriage Licenses
__Essential Question: Should gay marriage be allowed in PA?__ The state is trying to decide whether same-sex marriage is legal or not. The Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Kathleen Kane, agrees with gay marriage and stated that she would not prosecute the case and passed it to someone beneath her. She will not defend the fact that marriage has to be between one man and one woman. She thinks that opposing gay marriage is unconstitutional. This topic has been big in America for years. The PA marriage law defines marriage as “a civil contract by which one man and one woman take each other as husband and wife. This is completely contrary to what the Supreme Court says. The controversy with the Pennsylvania marriage law is that a lot of people in Pennsylvania say that the law needs amended. The Supreme Court says that marriage is “a far-reaching legal acknowledgement of the intimate relationship between two people”. As of now, thirteen states have legalized gay marriage, and Pennsylvania is one of the thirty-seven that still finds it illegal. Although a case is going on now, dealing with the marriage licences of homosexuals, the homosexuals want the results quick! They are waiting to find out if they are still legally married. As of today, August 28, 2013, Tom Corbett, the Governor of Pennsylvania, just took away 154 gay marriage licenses.