Pa. Sup. Ct. IOP § 4

A. Circulation Schedule; Voting; Hold; Reassignment.

1. Preparation of Opinions. Preparation of opinions and responses to

circulating opinions shall be given the highest priority.

a. Majority. The assigned Justice shall, absent extraordinary

circumstances, circulate a proposed majority opinion to all

members of the Court within ninety (90) days of the assignment in

single-issue cases and serial capital PCRA appeals, within one

hundred and twenty (120) days in multiple-issue cases, within one

hundred and fifty (150) days in capital direct appeals, within one

hundred and eighty (180) days in first capital PCRA appeals, or

within forty-five (45) days of the assignment of a Children’s Fast

Track appeal. The Court should make every effort to decide cases

by clear majority disposition.

b. Concurrences and Dissents. Justices who are aligned as to the

result should collaborate as much as possible to achieve a unified

position in responsive opinions. Concurrences and dissents shall

be circulated to all members of the Court within forty (40) days of

the date on which votes on the proposed majority opinions were

due in single-issue cases and serial capital PCRA appeals, within

sixty (60) days in multiple-issue cases, within seventy-five (75) days

in capital direct appeals, and within ninety (90) days in first capital

PCRA cases. Matters may also be held for additional review by a

Justice during these time periods. In Children’s Fast Track

appeals, concurrences and dissents shall be circulated to all

members of the Court within twenty (20) days of the date on which

votes on the proposed majority opinion were due.

2. Monthly Vote Lists. Circulating proposed opinions are voted upon each

month according to the schedule provided by the Chief Justice for use in

that calendar year. Each monthly vote list shall be circulated by the Chief

Justice the first Monday of the month, or, if that date is a holiday, on the

first Tuesday of the month; the dates to circulate the vote lists may be

adjusted. The cases listed shall include all proposed majority opinions, per

curiam opinions and dispositive per curiam orders in appeal cases

submitted for the Court’s consideration as of ten (10) days prior to the

circulation of the vote list. Responsive opinions to majority opinions on a

vote list shall be circulated by 5:00 p.m. on the Friday before the vote list

is circulated; responsive opinions circulated after that time shall move the

case to the next vote list. Responsive opinions to majority opinions not

already on a vote list shall be placed on the next available vote list

following their circulation to the Court.

3. Entry of Votes. Votes on listed cases shall be entered according to the

schedule provided by the Chief Justice. Generally speaking, votes are

due on the fifth business day following circulation of the vote list. However,

that time frame is adjusted to account for holidays, court sessions and

other anticipated conflicts. The vote schedule for the calendar year

distributed to the Court by the Chief Justice specifies the vote day for each

month. Within two (2) business days following entry of the votes, the Chief

Justice will circulate to all Justices a disposition, listing the votes for each

case. Within two (2) days after circulation of the disposition, the Chief

Justice must be advised of any correction. On the next business day (the

fifth business day following the entry of votes) the Chief Justice shall

circulate to the Court and to the Prothonotary a confidential list of all cases

ready to be filed together with the votes of the Justices. No case will

appear on the confidential list unless all votes are recorded. The

Prothonotary will docket opinions consistent with the information received.

a. Permissible votes include “join majority opinion”; “join majority

opinion/author concurring opinion”; “author revised majority

opinion”; “author concurring opinion”; “author revised concurring

opinion”; “hold for concurring opinion”; “join concurring opinion”;

“author dissenting opinion”; “author revised dissenting opinion”;

“hold for dissenting opinion”; “join dissenting opinion”; “author

concurring/dissenting opinion”; “hold for concurring/dissenting

opinion”; “join concurring/dissenting opinion”; “hold for further

review”; “do not participate”; or “other.” A Justice may also “concur

in the result” or “dissent without opinion,” but these options should

not be employed if the vote is dispositive.

b. Telephone Conferences and Administrative Agenda. After receipt

of the monthly vote list, any Justice may request that any case be

held for telephone conference by making such request in writing or

electronically to the Chief Justice with notice to all other Justices.

The list will also indicate a date certain on which a telephone

conference will be held for any cases so designated. At the request

of any Justice, and upon approval by the Chief Justice, cases may

be held for discussion to take place at the next scheduled

administrative agenda.

c. Holds. Upon entry of any hold vote, the period required for

response shall correspond to the time periods allowed for

circulation of concurrences and dissents. A Justice may request

additional leeway upon circulation of an internal letter explaining the

reasons for the delay and estimating the time for completion of the

review or responsive opinion. If the review or responsive opinion is

not completed by the designated time, additional status information

shall be provided every twenty (20) days thereafter, except when

the matter has been placed on hold for another pending case; in

that event, the matter shall be resolved upon the resolution of the

pending case. Once a matter has been voted upon and the time

period initially allowed for circulation of concurrences and dissents

has passed, holds upon subsequent listings are strongly

discouraged. Held opinions are to be resolved expeditiously. In a

Children’s Fast Track appeal, in no event shall circulation of a

responsive opinion occur beyond thirty (30) days from the date the

vote was initially due.

Upon appropriate notice to a “holding” Justice and an opportunity to

respond, the Chief Justice in his or her discretion may direct the

filing of an opinion with a “holding” Justice noted as not participating

in the decision of the matter, dissenting without opinion, concurring

in the result, or with an opinion to follow, as the case may be. In

Children’s Fast Track appeals, if, within thirty (30) days of the date

votes are due on majority opinions no dissent or concurrence has

been placed in circulation, the case will be filed, and the dissenting

or concurring Justice will be noted as not having participated in the

decision of the matter.

d. Reassignment. When a concurrence or dissent garners a majority

of votes, the author of the proposed majority opinion may withdraw

the opinion to revise to accommodate the new majority, or the case

shall be reassigned to the author of the concurrence or dissent.

Upon reassignment, and absent extraordinary circumstances, the

new majority opinion shall be circulated within thirty (30) days in

single-issue cases and serial capital PCRA appeals, sixty (60) days

in multiple-issue cases, seventy-five (75) days in capital direct

appeals, ninety (90) days in first capital PCRA appeals, and, in

Children’s Fast Track appeals, within fifteen (15) days.

Notwithstanding any contrary procedures set forth above, Justices shall

give priority in both circulation of and voting on proposed opinions in

Children’s Fast Track appeals.

B. Labeling of Opinions.

1. Majority Opinion. An opinion will be labeled ‘‘Opinion’’ when a majority

joins the rationale and result of the opinion. Majority opinions shall list the

composition of the Court hearing the appeal, and shall indicate when a

Justice did not participate in the consideration or decision of the matter.

Proposed majority opinions that involve multiple, complex issues which

the authoring Justice believes may garner disparate votes should be

divided into sections. If there is a split in votes in an opinion that has been

divided into sections, the authoring Justice will be responsible for

preparing a short introductory statement summarizing the resulting votes.

2. Concurrences and Dissents. An opinion is a ‘‘concurring opinion’’ when

the Justice agrees with the result of the proposed majority opinion. A

Justice who agrees with the result of the proposed majority opinion, but

does not agree with the rationale supporting the proposed majority

opinion, in whole or in part, may write a separate ‘‘concurring opinion.’’ An

opinion is a ‘‘dissenting opinion’’ when the Justice disagrees with the

result of the proposed majority opinion.

As a general rule, an opinion is a ‘‘concurring and dissenting opinion’’

when there is more than one issue and the Justice agrees with the

majority’s disposition of some but not all issues, and is in disagreement

with the mandate. There may be occasions, however, in which a Justice

may agree with the outcome but may disagree with a principle enunciated

by a majority of the Court which will govern the outcome of other cases.

In such instances, Justices are not strictly bound to concur outright;

rather, they retain the discretion to label responses as concurring and

dissenting.

Alternatively, a Justice may choose to ‘‘concur in the result’’ or ‘‘dissent’’

without writing a separate opinion, although both options are strongly

disfavored if the vote is dispositive.

3. Other designations. An opinion shall be designated as the “Opinion

Announcing the Judgment of the Court” when it reflects only the mandate,

and not the rationale, of a majority of Justices. When the votes are

equally divided, any resulting opinions shall be designated as the “Opinion

in Support of Affirmance” or “Opinion in Support of Reversal,” as the case

may be. In all such opinions, the name of any Justice not participating in

the consideration or decision of the matter shall be noted.

C. Reconsideration Applications

1. Assignment. The Prothonotary shall assign applications for

reconsideration to the author of the majority opinion or the opinion

announcing the judgment of the Court. If the appeal was resolved by an

equally divided Court, the petition shall be assigned to the author of the

opinion in support of affirmance.

2. Circulation and Disposition. The assigned Justice shall circulate to all

members of the Court a recommended disposition within fourteen (14)

days of the assignment or within seven (7) days of the assignment in

Children’s Fast Track appeals. A Justice who disagrees with the

recommended disposition shall circulate a counter-recommendation within

fourteen (14) days of the original recommendation or seven (7) days in

Children’s Fast Track appeals. A vote of the majority is required to grant

reconsideration. In any case in which reconsideration has been denied, a

Justice may request that the order record that he or she voted to grant

reconsideration. All orders shall indicate if a Justice did not participate in

the consideration or decision of the matter.