The state’s high court moved quickly this morning to strip away all but one central question over whether the city of Philadelphia has the legal right to cap campaign donations for municipal candidates.
That question is this: Since Pennsylvania’s election law does not explicitly address the matter one way or the other, can Philadelphia do what it likes, or not?
“The call for us is whether non-action is action,” as Chief Justice Ralph J. Cappy put it.
Hearing cases today in Philadelphia, in an ornate City Hall courtroom, the seven justices listened to opposing arguments about the answer to that question, and asked several of their own, for about 30 minutes.
What wasn’t discussed is why U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, who lost in the primary race for mayor, is pressing forward with the case. Afterall, Democratic nominee Michael Nutter undoubtedly showed that significant dollars can be raised, even with the campaign-finance caps.
The justices likely to cast votes at the end of the day, although that decision, and the accompanying written opinion, will probably not be made public for several weeks.
With the November general election less than a month away, however the case is settled almost certainly will not affect fundraising for either of the mayoral candidates, among the others running for municipal office.
Commonwealth Court ruled in April that the city has the authority to set its own campaign-finance rules.
The case stems from a suit filed nearly 18 months ago by Nutter.
He subsequently withdrew his complaint. But the case was kept alive because of counterclaims filed by labor leader John. J. Dougherty, who was then considering a run for the office.
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