IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
WESTERN DISTRICT
BLAIR HINDMAN, BOTH INDIVIDUALLY : No. 58 WM 2020
FOR HIMSELF, AND ON BEHALF OF :
SIMILARLY SITUATED INDIVIDUALS AND :
ENTITIES, :
:
Petitioner :
:
:
v. :
:
:
TOM WOLF, GOVERNOR, :
:
Respondent :
CONCURRING STATEMENT
JUSTICE WECHT FILED: August 5, 2020
I agree that this case should be dismissed. This case involves issues that
generally overlap with those the Court recently dismissed without explanation in Private
Properties, LLC v. Wolf, a decision from which I dissented.1 I join the Court’s decision to
dismiss this case, but I do so specifically because the perfunctory arguments presented
by Petitioner are inadequately developed to merit an exercise of our extraordinary King’s
Bench jurisdiction.
Rule of Appellate Procedure 123 requires an applicant for relief in our appellate
courts to “state with particularity the grounds on which [the application] is based,” and
specifically acknowledges the prospect that an applicant may attach a supporting brief to
an application. Pa.R.A.P. 123(a). Merely citing a jumble of Pennsylvania and federal
1 See Private Props., LLC v. Wolf, 90 MM 2020, ___ A.3d ___, 2020 WL 4381579
(Pa. July 31, 2020) (per curiam), and this author’s Dissenting Statement thereto.
Constitutional principles2 does not satisfy Rule 123’s requirements, especially in invoking
this Court’s seldom-granted King’s Bench jurisdiction. Even extraordinary urgency does
not warrant entirely jettisoning an applicant’s burden to state clearly the basis upon which
he seeks relief.
If Petitioner’s arguments were fully developed, and a majority of this Court’s
members still was inclined to dismiss this case, I would reaffirm my position as stated in
Private Properties, see supra n.1—that the underlying constitutional question concerning
the Governor’s authority to preclude judicial eviction actions is sufficiently important, and
sufficiently urgent, to warrant’s this Court’s exercise of King’s Bench authority.
2 See Petitioner’s Application for Extraordinary Relief at 11-12.
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