In Re Appeal of Coats

849 A.2d 254, 2004 Pa. Super. 125, 2004 Pa. Super. LEXIS 655
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedApril 19, 2004
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 849 A.2d 254 (In Re Appeal of Coats) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In Re Appeal of Coats, 849 A.2d 254, 2004 Pa. Super. 125, 2004 Pa. Super. LEXIS 655 (Pa. Ct. App. 2004).

Opinions

OPINION BY

TAMILIA, J.:

¶ 1 Alfie Coats appeals pro se from the February 6, 2008 Order denying and dismissing his appeal from the orphans’ court’s refusal to issue him a marriage license without his personal appearance.1

¶ 2 Appellant is an indigent prisoner at the State Correctional Institution at Maha-noy (SCI Mahanoy) in Schuylkill County. When his fiancée went to the office of the clerk of the orphans’ court of Schuylkill County to obtain a marriage license, the clerk would not accept an application because appellant was unable to personally appear at the clerk’s office. Appellant and his fiancée appealed that determination.

¶3 The trial court issued a citation to the clerk of the orphans’ court to show cause why appellant should not be allowed to apply for a marriage license other than by his personal appearance in the clerk’s office. Record No. 101/335. At a February 4, 2003 hearing it was indicated the clerk was acting in compliance with 23 Pa.C.S.A. § 1306, Oral examination,2 which requires marriage license applicants to appear in person. It was also revealed that SCI Mahanoy would allow appellant to appear through video conferencing,3 but that the orphans’ court does not have video conferencing technology. Moreover, the orphans’ court had insufficient staff and [256]*256funds to examine appellant at SCI Maha-noy. SCI Mahanoy would allow appellant to be transported to the clerk’s office but would not provide the transportation. The Schuylkill County Sheriffs Department would transfer appellant but would require appellant to pay a fee to cover expenses, which appellant and his fiancée could not afford to pay. Unable to obtain a marriage license, appellant filed this timely appeal which raises one issue for our consideration.

Can a clerk of the orphans’ court division of a court of common pleas refuse to travel to a prison within its jurisdiction to interview a marriage license inmate applicant lacking funds to pay the county sheriff for transport to the county courthouse for the interview?

Appellant’s brief at 4.

¶ 4 Specifically, appellant (and amici) argues the fundamental constitutional right to marry extends to prisoners. Turner v. Safley, 482 U.S. 78, 107 S.Ct. 2254, 96 L.Ed.2d 64 (1987). He asserts the Schuylkill County Clerk of the Orphans’ Court violated his fundamental right by refusing to issue a marriage license to his fiancée and him absent his personal appearance. He states that neither he nor his fiancée can afford to pay the sheriff to transport him to the clerk’s office and argues that county officials may not erect economic barriers to such fundamental rights. Further, he contends the county must provide the orphans’ court clerk with all necessary accommodations, goods and services, (see 42 Pa.C.S.A. 2774(b) infra) and that video conferencing technology is a necessary accommodation or service. He also contends it is reasonable and feasible for the clerk or a representative to periodically visit area prisons for the purpose of issuing licenses. In fact, he argues Turner requires the clerk to do so. He asks this Court to reverse and remand' with instructions to issue a writ of mandamus or other relief to compel the clerk of the orphans’ court to conduct a marriage license examination of appellant at SCI Ma-hanoy or by video conferencing technology.

¶ 5 The trial court agrees that 23 Pa. C.S.A. § 1306 requires marriage license applicants to appear in person but would not impose the burden upon the clerk to maintain sufficient staff to travel to area prisons for that purpose.4 It found no basis in law upon which to conclude the clerk of the orphans’ court is required to entertain applications at any location other than its place of business. The court concluded appellant’s dispute was with the Department of Corrections which it reasoned could provide transportation to the clerk’s office as easily as could the county sheriffs office, but speculated it chose not to do so based upon security concerns and a lack of manpower. Judge Baldwin points out that it is not the duty of the Orphans’ Court or the people of Schuylkill County to get the prisoner to the marriage license department, but rather the duty, if one exists, of the Department of Corrections, which was not a party to this action. See Trial Court Opinion, Baldwin, P.J., 2/6/03, at 2. Since prisoners in various state institutions are placed through the prison diagnostic system throughout the state of Pennsylvania, it appears inappropriate for some counties, due to policy decisions concerning location of prisons, to have an unusual if not overwhelming burden of providing certain services. Amicus would respond that they get the benefit of [257]*257jobs and other expenditures which offset the burden. This does not, however, solve the problem of how best to accommodate this activity within the available resources and needs of a multifunctional system.

¶ 6 We are beyond the underlying consideration as to whether prisoners have a fundamental constitutional right to marry — they do. Turner, supra. The facts and legal ramifications in Turner are distinguishable from those involved in this case, however, and the factual situation here is not in anyway comparable to Little v. Streater, 452 U.S. 1, 101 S.Ct. 2202, 68 L.Ed.2d 627 (1981) (blood tests for paternity actions), Zablocki, (denial of marriage license if arrears exists on child support). Boddie v. Connecticut, 401 U.S. 371, 91 S.Ct. 780, 28 L.Ed.2d 113 (1971) (fees for divorces), or Loving, (interracial marriages). The issue not addressed by Turner is whether under the totality of all circumstances involved in operating a prison, court offices and law enforcement agencies, that right can be enforced irrespective of the cost to the ancillary services which have no statutory responsibility to assure that the prisoner and his/her partner get to the marriage license bureau door. These functions of the court, administrative, prison and law enforcement entities (i.e.sheriffs) have no legal duty to assure a prisoner obtains a marriage license. For this Court to direct one of those entities to engage in an activity which would entail unknown expenditures of money, manpower and security concerns and which would divert funds and resources beyond their statutory mandate and in all likelihood, beyond their present budgetary resources at a time when all levels of government are on the verge of bankruptcy is inappropriate. The problem, if there is one, should not be resolved by the courts, as at best we would be called to manage a diverse and desperate number of entities involving different locations, a multiplicity of prisons in a wide array of counties and prisoners of different financial means some of whom could underwrite their own costs while others would be required to proceed informa pauperis. Any solution we would decree the trial court to apply only could be directed to one case, in one prison, in one county, as to one marriage license office. This matter cannot be resolved properly in such a fashion. The only entity which can mandate a uniform statewide proceeding and remedy is the legislature.

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Related

Commonwealth, Department of Health v. Hanes
78 A.3d 676 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2013)
In Re Appeal of Coats
849 A.2d 254 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 2004)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
849 A.2d 254, 2004 Pa. Super. 125, 2004 Pa. Super. LEXIS 655, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-appeal-of-coats-pasuperct-2004.