League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Commonwealth

177 A.3d 1000
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedNovember 22, 2017
DocketNo. 261 M.D. 2017
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 177 A.3d 1000 (League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania v. Commonwealth, 177 A.3d 1000 (Pa. Ct. App. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION BY

JUDGE BROBSON

Presently before the Court for disposition are various discovery matters, which raise, inter alia, the applicability of Article 2, Section 15 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, also known as the Speech and Debate Clause. Respondents the Pennsylvania General Assembly, Speaker of Pennsylvania House of Representatives Michael C. Turzai, and President Pro Tempore of the Pennsylvania Senate Joseph B. Scarnati III (Legislative Respondents) contend that much, if not all, of the discovery that Petitioners seek in this matter is barred by the immunity afforded under the Speech and Debate Clause, which Legislative Respondents maintain is absolute. Petitioners, by contrast, contend that federal courts hearing gerrymandering challenges throughout the country have recognized only a qualified legislative privilege, allowing discovery of the type that Petitioners seek here. See, e.g., Bethune-Hill v. Va. State Bd. of Elections, 114 F.Supp.3d 323 (E.D. Va. 2015). Petitioners also directed the Court to the Florida Supreme Court decision in League of Women Voters of Florida v. Florida House of Representatives, 132 So.3d 135 (Fla. 2013) (LWV of Fl.), which also recognized only a qualified legislative privilege in the context of a gerrymandering challenge.

Pennsylvania’s Speech and Debate Clause provides, in relevant part: “The members of the General Assembly ... for any speech or debate in either House ... shall not be questioned in any other place.” Pa. Const., Art. 2, § 15. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has held that the scope of Pennsylvania’s Speech and Debate Clause is indistinguishable from its counterpart in the United States Constitution. Consumers Educ. and Prot. Ass’n v. Nolan, 470 Pa. 372, 368 A.2d 675, 681 (1977). Following United States Supreme Court precedent, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that the Speech and Debate Clause must be construed “broadly in order to protect legislators from judicial interference with their legitimate legislative activities.” Id. at 680-81 (emphasis added). Our Supreme Court has further explained the breadth of the protection as follows:

[T]he immunity of the legislators must be absolute as to their actions within the “legitimate legislative sphere.” To accomplish this we must not only insulate the legislator against the results of litigation brought against him for acts in the discharge of the responsibilities of his office, but also relieve him of the responsibility of defending against such claims.

Consumer Party of Pa. v. Cmwlth., 510 Pa. 158, 507 A.2d 323, 331 (1986), abrogated on other grounds by Pennsylvanians Against Gambling Expansion Fund, Inc. v. Cmwlth., 877 A.2d 383 (Pa. 2005). “It is undisputed that legislative immunity [under the Speech and Debate Clause] precludes inquiry into the motives or purposes of a legislative act.” Government of the Virgin Islands v. Lee, 775 F.2d 514, 522 (3d Cir. 1985).

Not all activities of' state legislators, however, are protected. To be protected, the activity in question must fall within “the sphere óf legitimate legislative activity.” Id.; see Gravel v. United States, 408 U.S. 606, 624-25, 92 S.Ct. 2614, 33 L.Ed.2d 583 (1972); Firetree Ltd. v. Fairchild, 920 A.2d 913, 920 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2007), appeal denied, 596 Pa. 748, 946 A.2d 689 (2008); but see United States v. Brewster, 408 U.S. 501, 512, 92 S.Ct. 2531, 33 L.Ed.2d 507 (1972) (noting that legislators often engage in activities — e.g., constituent service and newsletters — that are not purely legislative and thus not protected by Speech arid Debate Clause of United States Constitution). The protections of the Speech and Debate Clause are not, however, confined to the walls of the Pennsylvania House or Pennsylvania Senate Chambers. They also extend to “fact-finding, information gathering, and investigative activities,” which “are essential prerequisites to the drafting of bills and the enlightened debate over proposed legislation.” Government of the Virgin Islands, 775 F.2d at 521. It is also now well-settled that' the protections of the Speech and Debate Clause extend to legislative staff. See Gravel, 408 U.S. at 616-22, 92 S.Ct. 2614.

Underlying the speech and debate privilege is the preservation of the structure in our state constitution of separate but equal branches of government: “Two interrelated rationales underlie the Speech or Debate Clause: first, the need to avoid intrusion by the Executive or Judiciary into the affairs of a coequal branch, and second, the desire to protect legislative independence.” United States v. Gillock, 445 U.S. 360, 369, 100 S.Ct. 1185, 63 L.Ed.2d 454 (1980) (emphasis added). “In our system; ‘the clause serves the additional function of reinforcing the separation of powers so deliberately established by the Founders.’ ” Eastland v. U.S. Servicemen’s Fund, 421 U.S. 491, 502, 95 S.Ct. 1813, 44 L.Ed.2d 324 (1975) (quoting United States v. Johnson, 383 U.S. 169, 86 S.Ct. 749, 15 L.Ed.2d 681 (1966)). As a coequal branch with the Pennsylvania General Assembly, Pennsylvania state courts are so constrained. Federal courts, however, are not. Federal courts are not compelled to honor state constitutional protections afforded to state legislatures. This explains why the federal gerrymandering cases on which Petitioners rely are neither dispositive nor persuasive. The opinions in those cases invariably address only whether state legislators are entitled to “state legislative immunity,” a qualified privilege sourced not in constitutional law, but in federal common law.

. In Bethune-Hill, an opinion Petitioners rely upon, the plaintiffs initiated a federal lawsuit,. challenging certain state house districts as unlawful racial gerrymanders in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution. The plaintiffs served discovery on the Virginia House of Delegates (Va. House), seeking both internal and external communications relating to the redistricting process. The Va. House asserted “legislative privilege” to shield the production of certain documents. In addressing the claim of privilege, the District Court distinguished legislative immunity and privilege for federal legislators, which is derived from the Speech and Debate Clause of the United States Constitution, from state legislative immunity recognized by federal courts:-

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Bluebook (online)
177 A.3d 1000, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/league-of-women-voters-of-pennsylvania-v-commonwealth-pacommwct-2017.