March 2017

In January 2015, the Seventh Circuit, recognizing that it was an outlier among the Circuits in holding that pretrial detainees could not sue under the Fourth Amendment but rather instead sued under the Due Process Clause to challenge his/her detention, stated that a request by a detainee to overturn settled Circuit precedent was “better left for the Supreme Court.” In the Supreme Court’s words, it granted cert “on cue,” and on March 16, 2017, overturned the Seventh Circuit’s precedent by holding that pretrial detainees retained the right to sue under the Fourth Amendment over their detention for unlawful search and seizure. The Court held that the Fourth Amendment governs a claim for unlawful pretrial detention even beyond the start of legal process.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Reins in the Seventh Circuit and Reaffirms Fourth Amendment Protections

A series of municipal debt reform proposals have been reintroduced in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Versions of these proposals have been introduced in every legislative session dating back to the 2013-2014 term, although the proposals have changed somewhat over the years. This session’s bills are number SB 490 through SB 493.

As with bills from past sessions, the current proposals would change the way municipalities obtain approval from the Department of Community and Economic Development (“DCED”) to issue bonds, notes or other public debt, as well as make a number of reforms to those current provisions governing interest rate swaps, performance bonds and municipal authority projects.Continue Reading Municipal Debt Reform Proposals Reintroduced in State Senate

As if Counties could forget that Court employees are just a little different, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania sent us another reminder when the Court held that the Pennsylvania Whistleblower Law does not apply to judicial employees.

Gregory Thomas was a Juvenile Probation Officer serving with the Washington County Court of Common Pleas until October 2014, at which time he was allegedly forced to quit. Prior to his resignation, Thomas had been a participant in an investigation regarding the misappropriation of funds by the Juvenile Probation Office. During the investigation, it was revealed that the Chief of the Juvenile Probation Office had directed Thomas to email the County’s purchasing office in July 2014 to state that a mixed martial arts training session had taken place on June 6 and 7 in partial satisfaction of the state’s 40-hour annual training requirement. The email sought, and was granted, funding for the training. No such training actually occurred, and Thomas confirmed to the investigating detectives that he had not attended this training; he alleged that he had been told by the Chief Probation Officer to tell the detectives otherwise.Continue Reading Scope of Pennsylvania’s Whistleblower Law Examined

Blight – or urban decay – reduces property values, has been linked to higher crime rates, and is visible throughout Pennsylvania in the form of deteriorated and abandoned properties.  The Pennsylvania Neighborhood Blight Reclamation and Revitalization Act, 53  Pa.C.S. §6101 et seq. (the “Act”), provides additional tools to combat blight.  Originally passed as Act 90 of 2010 (“Act 90”), the Act subsequently was amended through the passage of Act 171 of 2014 (“Act 171”) and Act 34 of 2015 (“Act 34”).  Through the Act and related laws as well as financing opportunities, municipalities and developers have the tools necessary to reduce blight and make neighborhoods safer and more desirable.
Continue Reading Combating Blight: New Tools for the Ongoing Municipal Battle

At its meeting on March 1, 2017, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted to formally propose and publish for comment amendments to Rule 15c2-12 to add two additional disclosure events to written continuing disclosure undertakings required to be obtained by underwriters in primary securities offerings.
Continue Reading SEC Proposes Amendments to Rule 15c2-12 to Address Bank Loan Disclosure Concerns