Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission v. Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp.

MANDERINO, Justice,

dissenting.

I dissent. There is no valid reason for refusing to hear this appeal now. An unnecessary delay and a waste of judicial time is all that results. The practical effect of the majority’s decision is to force appellant to refuse to comply with the subpoena, after which sanctions will be imposed and suspended pending appeal at which time that order will then be final and appealable. See Kine v. Forman, 412 Pa. 163, ftn. * at 166, 194 A.2d, ftn. 2 at 177. To deny review at this stage will serve no useful purpose. It will only delay our review of this case.

The majority’s analysis of the finality rule issue is conclusory. This Court has said that the finality of an order is a “judicial conclusion which can be reached only after an examination of its ramifications.” Bell v. Beneficial Consumer Discount, 465 Pa. 225, 348 A.2d 734, 735 (emphasis added). This test, we have said, must be the result of a practical rather than a technical construction. See Bell v. Beneficial Consumer Discount, supra, citing Cohen v. Beneficial Industrial Loan Corporation, 337 U.S. 541, 546, 69 S.Ct. 1221, 1226, 93 L.Ed. 1528 (1949). Today, the majority persists in applying a technical construction of the finality rule and in doing so, the majority ignores the ramifications of its application.

*40Judicial economy requires the achievement of a just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action. See Brown Shoe v. U. S, 370 U.S. 294, 306, 82 S.Ct. 1502, 1513, 8 L.Ed.2d 510, 524. Why should more money and time be expended for the sole purpose of requiring a citizen to disobey the law before obtaining a decision on that law’s validity? See In re: Petition of Specter, 455 Pa. 518, 317 A.2d 286 (1974) (dissenting opinion of J. Nix joined by J. Manderino).

LARSEN, J., joins in this dissenting opinion.