Court Cases

In June 2020, the Pennsylvania Democratic Party sued Secretary of State Kathryn Boockvar in Commonwealth Court, seeking to challenge several aspects of the commonwealth’s election laws. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania agreed to hear the case, using its King’s Bench power.

In the lawsuit Trump for President v. Boockvar, President Trump’s campaign sued the commonwealth and all 67 counties and is challenging several election administration practices, including the use of drop boxes for voters who vote by mail, which some counties used during Pennsylvania’s primary elect

On June 5, the ACLU of Pennsylvania concluded that the city had surpassed its legal authority, unless it could produce evidence that would prove a public safety justification for the curfew.

On May 20, 2020, the ACLU of Pennsylvania and the Farmworker Legal Aid Clinic at Villanova University filed a federal lawsuit against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), seeking documents under the federal Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA).

Voting rights groups filed a motion to intervene in the federal lawsuit, Judicial Watch v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. By filing a motion to intervene, the groups seek to protect eligible Pennsylvania voters who are at risk of being wrongfully purged from the rolls.

On April 3, 2020, the ACLU of Pennsylvania and the law firm Dechert LLP filed a federal civil rights lawsuit on behalf of 22 people who are held in immigration detention in two county jails in the commonwealth.