Presidential election hostilities may fuel fight over Pa. courts
Updated Dec 24, 2020;
By MARC LEVY, Associated Press
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) The angst, anger and hostility over Pennsylvania’s presidential election result will flow past New Year’s Day.
Republicans who control the state Legislature could use the first weeks of 2021 to fast-track a constitutional amendment that would remake the Democratic-majority state Supreme Court after Republicans and President Donald Trump accused the court of acting illegally or, baselessly, conspiring to steal the election.
That prospect is propelling a constellation of liberal groups, good-government groups, labor unions and others to organize against the proposed amendment, and stoking fears of an expensive public campaign fueled by dark money for control of the battleground state’s highest court.
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The Pennsylvania state Capitol is seen in this file photo. (Tom Downing/WITF)
The angst, anger and hostility over Pennsylvania’s presidential election result will flow past New Year’s Day.
Republicans who control the state Legislature could use the first weeks of 2021 to fast-track a constitutional amendment that would remake the Democratic-majority state Supreme Court after Republicans and President Donald Trump accused the court of acting illegally or, baselessly, conspiring to steal the election.
That prospect is propelling a constellation of liberal groups, good-government groups, labor unions and others to organize against the proposed amendment, and stoking fears of an expensive public campaign fueled by dark money for control of the battleground state’s highest court.
Threats Mount Against Public Officials: Not What I Signed Up For Officials at all levels of government are receiving increased threats. They re not getting as much support as they should from officials at the highest levels or, in some cases, from law enforcement. Alan Greenblatt, Senior Staff Writer | December 17, 2020 | Analysis
There was a rumor her house had burned down. Kim Gray, a member of the Richmond, Va., city council, called the police chief directly, who told her officers would be alerted. None came, even after Gray and her neighbors called when a mob of about 200 formed outside her house. Some were armed with rifles, yelling “burn it down” and pointing lasers into her children’s bedroom.
HARRISBURG Rep. Jim Rigby and his wife, Kathleen, considered themselves lucky when they said final goodbyes to her 89-year-old mother through a six-inch crack in a nursing home window.
Laura Oherrick was diagnosed with COVID-19 at the end of November at an assisted living facility in Bedford County. She died Dec. 5.
“Fortunately, because my brother-in-law is a nurse practitioner, he was able to gown up, go in, and open her window enough that we could talk through the screen,” said Rigby, a Republican lawmaker from Cambria County. “If she’d been on the third floor, that wouldn’t have happened.”