In re: 23rd Judicial District Declaration of Judicial Emergency (Berks County) -No. 53 MM 2020

• Court: Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Decided: August 13, 2021
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA MIDDLE DISTRICT

IN RE: 23RD JUDICIAL DISTRICT : No. 53 MM 2020 DECLARATION OF JUDICIAL : EMERGENCY (BERKS COUNTY) :

ORDER

PER CURIAM

AND NOW, this 13th day of August, 2021, the Application for Relief, filed pursuant

to Rule of Judicial Administration 1952(B)(2), is DENIED, WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

The instant Application requests that this Court authorize the President Judge to

implement local Emergency Judicial Order No. 20-3264, captioned “In re Court Action to

Reduce Evictions.” Relatedly, the Application asks that, “insofar as timeframes outlined

[in that Order] conflict with any statutorily provided timeframes for eviction actions, [the

President Judge be empowered] to temporarily suspend operation of those rules[.]”

Application at 2.

To the extent the Application seeks the authority to suspend statutory provisions,

the Application identifies no passage of Rule of Judicial Administration 1952 that would

permit empowering a President Judge to suspend a statute, and this Court is unlikely to

grant such relief absent a robust showing of legal authority and compelling need.

Insofar as the Application seeks permission for the President Judge to suspend

procedural rules, it is noted that the Application offers no detailed, particular account of

the present status of the distribution of emergency rental assistance funds in Berks

County. See, e.g., In re 7th Judicial Dist., 43 MM 2020 (in an application submitted by the

President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Bucks County, detailing precisely how much emergency rental assistance had been received and distributed to date in that

county); In re 5th Judicial Dist., 23 WM 2020 (in an application submitted by the President

Judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, providing county-specific data

as to the amount of emergency rental assistance received and distributed to date, the

number of applications received, and the average processing time for such applications).

Respectfully, absent such detailed information, the Application fails to establish that the

present status of landlord-tenant matters in Berks County constitutes a judicial emergency

to support granting the President Judge the authority to suspend procedural rules on a

temporary basis. See Pa.R.J.A. 1952(B)(2)(m) (indicating that, in the context of a local

judicial emergency, the Supreme Court may empower the President Judge to suspend or

modify statewide court rules).

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