Effort to Impeach Pennsylvania Supreme Court Over Congressional Districts Ruling is Disgraceful

Pennsylvania State Rep. Cris Dush is calling for the impeachment of the justices on the state Supreme Court who ruled in favor of a redrawing of the state’s congressional map ahead of the 2018 midterm elections. Rep. Dush circulated a letter addressed to the state House on Monday arguing that the five Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices behind the decision violated the state constitution by appointing a special master to draw impartial districts if the legislature and governor fail to approve a map.  

“Pennsylvanians expect and deserve impartial justice and is disgraceful that Rep. Dush feels entitled to attempt to impeach State Supreme Court Justices simply because he does not agree with their ruling,” said Micah Sims, Executive Director of Common Cause Pennsylvania. “I trust that the residents of Pennsylvania and the vast majority of his colleagues in the Legislature see through the histrionics of Rep. Dush. Nonetheless, Rep. Dush’s conduct is a sad statement on his views of democracy and the separation of powers. His actions provide yet another example of why we must fix congressional maps and I dare say state legislative maps so that constituents can feel that their views, their voices and their votes matter.”

“The State and U.S. Supreme Courts delivered a victory to the voters of Pennsylvania by striking down these maps and this attack on the justices is yet another callous attempt by a politician to control who votes in his district,” said Kathay Feng, Common Cause National Redistricting Director. “The State Supreme Court ordered new maps from the legislature by Friday and Pennsylvania voters deserve exactly that. This sideshow should be dismissed as the wild-eyed delusion that it is.”

The State Supreme Court ordered the legislature to produce newly drawn maps by February 9^th and receive an approval from Governor Tom Wolf by February 15^th. If neither perform their duty and complete the task, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania will produce a map by February 19^th and allow voters to elect candidates based upon those districts during the 2018 election cycle.