A narrative history of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Explores the court's notable decisions and why they matter in the broader context of Pennsylvania and American law and history.
Contents
Foreword (John J. Hare)
Introduction: The History of a Time-Honored Court (Kenneth G. Gormley)
Part 1: The Structure and Powers of the Supreme Court
1. (S)electing Judges in Pennsylvania (Charles L. Becker and Ruxandra M. Laidacker)
2. The King’s Bench Powers (William S. Stickman IV)
3. The Power of Rulemaking (Renée Cohn Jubelirer, Robert L. Byer, and Meredith E. Carpenter)
4. The Supreme Court’s Singular Criminal Procedure Work in a Pivotal Era (James A. Shellenberger and James A. Strazzella)
5. Supervising and Regulating the Practice of Law (Thomas G. Wilkinson Jr. and Roger B. Meilton)
6. Supervising and Regulating the Judiciary (Roger B. Meilton and Thomas G. Wilkinson Jr.)
7. The Development and Improvement of Pennsylvania’s Judicial Computer System (Joseph A. Del Sole, Amy Ceraso, and Thomas B. Darr.)
Image Gallery
Part 2: Decisional Law of the Supreme Court
Section 1: Constitutional Law and Civil Rights
8: The Supreme Court and the Separation of Powers Under the Pennsylvania Constitution (Howard J. Bashman)
9. The Supreme Court and Religious Liberty: The Competing Visions of William Penn and Chief Justice John Bannister Gibson (Gary S. Gildin)
10. Free Expression Versus Reputation: The Supreme Court’s Weighing of Interests (Carl A. Solano and Edward J. Sholinsky)
11. Women on the Court and the Court on Women (Deborah L. Brake and Susan Frietsche)
12. Article I, Section 28 of the Pennsylvania Constitution: Prohibiting the Denial or Abridgment of Equality of Rights Because of Sex (Phyllis W. Beck and Michele Hudzicki-Grimmig)
13. The Supreme Court’s Enforcement of Antidiscrimination Laws (Teresa Ficken Sachs)
14. The Supreme Court and the Contours of State and Federal Power in Revolutionary Pennsylvania (John J. Hare)
Section 2: Tort Law
15. The Floodgates of Strict Liability: The Johnstown Flood of 1889, the Supreme Court, and the Rise of Modern American Tort Law (Jed H. Shugerman)
16. The Supreme Court and Medical Malpractice Law (Charles L. Becker, Shanin Specter, and Thomas R. Kline)
17. The Ebb and Flow of the Law: The Supreme Court’s Product Liability Jurisprudence (James M. Beck)
18. Clash of Titans: The Supreme Court and Product Liability (Clifford A. Rieders and Pamela L. Shipman)
Section 3: Criminal Law
19. The 1778–1779 Chester and Philadelphia Treason Trials: The Supreme Court as Trial Court (Carlton F. W. Larson)
20. Slavery and the Supreme Court: High Court Justices and the Problem of Fundamental Justice (Paul Finkelman)
21. When Felons Don’t Kill: The Felony Murder Rule in Pennsylvania (Arthur G. LeFrancois)
Section 4: Labor Law and Economic Rights
22. The Supreme Court and the Labor Movement (Jeffrey P. Bauman)
23. The Homestead Lockout of 1892 and Jurisprudence in Pennsylvania (Melvyn Dubofsky)
24. Defining the Role of the Legislature in Regulating the Economy (Vincent C. Deliberato Jr.)
Section 5: Administrative Law
25. The Supreme Court and Administrative Law (John L. Gedid)
Afterword (Thomas G. Saylor)
Appendix A: The Reports of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania (Joel Fishman)
Appendix B: Historical List of Supreme Court Justices
Index
“A fascinating and important collection tracing the many ways in which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has shaped the history of the Commonwealth and the nation since its inception in 1684. Taken as a whole, this volume instantly assumes its place as the most comprehensive and wide-ranging historical treatment of the procedural and jurisprudential development of the Court available, and it provides researchers and scholars with views of the Court’s 333-year history that are both celebratory and critically analytical.”
—Steven D. Hinckley, Associate Dean for Library and Information Services and Professor of Law, Penn State Law
