DV Journal

Did Bucks County Democrats try to sneak their nuisance lawsuit targeting major oil companies past county voters?

That’s the allegation made, not by the lawyers, but by Bucks County Judge Stephen A. Corr during a hearing on the case Monday.

Across the country, Democrat-run states and cities have been filing complaints in local courts targeting global energy companies, claiming they violating local ordinances when selling gasoline or marketing their products. The Bucks County lawsuit was filed with great fanfare in March 2024. Commissioners Diane Ellis-Marseglia and Bob Harvie, who make up the Democrat majority, held a press conference, along with Republican Gene DiGirolamo, touting their legal action.

The lawsuit accuses major oil companies like BP, Chevron, Conoco Phillips, Exxon Mobil, Shell — along with the American Petroleum Institute — of violating the county’s nuisance laws, as well as failing to warn Bucks County consumers of the dangers of climate change. The county is pursuing a massive payout,

“This suit is our tool to recoup costs and fund public works projects like bolstering or replacing bridges, retrofitting county-owned buildings and commencing stormwater management projects, all of which will put us in the best possible position to weather what is certain to come,” Ellis-Marseglia said.

Frederick P. Santarelli, a lawyer for Chevron, asked Corr to dismiss the suit, saying the Bucks County commissioners had violated the state Sunshine Act by the method they used to approve their decision to file it. He said that instead of letting the public know their intentions to file a lawsuit against big oil companies, they buried an item authorizing unspecified “environmental litigation” in a consent agenda in January 2024, hiding it from voters.

That sleight-of-hand was “undemocratic,” Santarelli said.

Corr asked Santarelli about the 30-day rule to file a lawsuit under the Sunshine Act. Santarelli said since the case was not filed until March, they had no notice within 30 days that they were defendants.

“It’s absolutely absurd,” he said. He noted that Harvie had exchanged emails with the Center for Climate Integrity, a nonprofit promoting the national litigation effort, before the suit was filed.

Corr also noted DiGirolamo withdrew his support for the lawsuit soon after it was filed.

Bucks Deputy Solicitor Jaclyn Grieser argued the county had followed the Sunshine Act requirements.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Corr responded. “Why don’t you want the public to see what you’re doing?”

Corr said he used to be on a school board and knows how the Sunshine Act should be employed. With the county commissioners approving the lawsuit by an obscure item in a consent agenda, “How can the public ask an intelligent question? You go out there and tout transparency…Why are you hiding this?”

“It’s a sneaky way of doing it,” Corr said, asking Grieser if there was any way a member of the public could have known in January what the commissioners were doing without filing a right-to-know request.

Rather than deny the allegation, Grieser attempted to argue that the commissioners did nothing wrong.

“It’s not required by law,” he said.

In rebuttal, Santarelli said county officials were doing “mental gymnastics” and “catch me if you can.”

Ted Boutrous, of Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher LLP, counsel for Chevron Corporation, told DVJournal after the hearing that the lawsuit should never have been filed.

“Virtually identical lawsuits have been dismissed by multiple federal and state courts across the country, including in Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and California. The claims are based on interstate and international emissions and, therefore, are precluded and preempted by federal law under clear U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

“As the New Jersey Superior Court held in dismissing New Jersey’s similar lawsuit, ‘the leading and most persuasive case supporting dismissal is the Second Circuit decision in City of New York. There, the federal appeals court rejected the availability of state tort law in the climate change context.’”

In court, Boutrous pointed out that while the lawsuit is allegedly about product liability, the county itself knowingly uses the products — namely oil and gas. And, he added, if the climate change issue was well-known by 2019, why did county officials wait until 2024 to bring suit?

Boutrous also argued Common Pleas Court is the wrong venue since air and water are issues governed by federal courts.

“It’s bigger than this little old judge in Bucks County?” Corr joked.

Boutrous responded, “It’s not that.”

“It’s a jurisdictional issue,” Corr replied.

Boutrous said there are “a number of jurisdictional issues here. It doesn’t hang together, and courts have rejected it for that reason.”

Dan Flynn, a lawyer for the county, said the defendants misconstrued the county’s “straightforward” case.

Flynn said the oil companies knew for years that their product was harming the climate. Instead of letting people know so they could come up with alternatives, they engaged in a “disinformation campaign” and “totally manipulated the market.”

“The defendants knew they were losing the battle,” said Flynn. “Then they made it seem like they were part of the solution.”

He said Bucks County is not suing to stop climate change but for the funds needed to deal with increased floods and other adverse weather events it causes. “If you decide for the defendants, Bucks County is left footing the bill.”

Corr said there are 1,700 oil and gas companies and asked why they are the defendants. Flynn responded, “Because they knew.”

“In the 1980s, fossil fuel knew there was a fork in the road.  We could have done something about it. It was the defendants that steered the market (with advertising),” he said.

“What about me?” asked Corr. “I drive a car that burns gas.”

“The court was not telling everybody to go burn gas,” said Flynn. “The defendants were.”

Corr said, “We’re talking about emissions from all over the world.”

And while many courts dismissed similar cases, Flynn said those in Honolulu, Boulder, Colo. and Minnesota have allowed cases against the oil companies to proceed.

Corr took the matter under advisement and will issue a written ruling.

Residents filed a lawsuit to block Upper Darby’s newly enacted earned income tax (EIT), saying the township did not follow its home rule charter in how it adopted the ordinance.

The lawsuit against Mayor Edward Brown, Upper Darby, and the Upper Darby Town Council, was filed Monday in Common Pleas Court.

It alleges the Democratic majority council and mayor violated the home rule charter when they passed the earned income tax ordinance 7 -4 on Feb. 19. That ordinance said it would take effect immediately. However, since that was the first time the township levied an earned income tax, the Home Rule Charter Local Tax Enabling Act says it must not go into effect for 30 days.

Upper Darby Township “did not strictly comply with statutory procedure,” the lawsuit said.

The residents ask the court to strike down the ordinance for the tax as “invalid from its inception.”

This is Upper Darby’s third attempt to enact a 1 percent earned income tax. The previous mayor, Barbarann Keffer, first proposed it in 2023. In December 2024, it was stopped by a judge as improperly voted on.

Resident John DeMasi was the lead plaintiff in both lawsuits. He says he’s outraged at what he sees as Upper Darby officials’ excessive spending, including adding positions and giving employees hefty raises.

The township spent $9 million more than it should have last year, DeMasi said, because the council members thought they would have money from the previous EIT ordinance. However, the court struck that ordinance down.

The council hired the township Chief Administrative Officer Crandall Jones for $191,000 last year. His salary is $196,730 for 2025. Several other management employees received  25 percent raises, he said. The previous CAO made $140,000.

“If they can pay him that much, they don’t need my 1 percent,” said DeMasi.

In one year, Crandall’s assistant went from $62,000 to $92,000, said DeMasi. Upper Darby officials hired a new public information officer for $82,000 and a risk management specialist for $72,000. The human resources director’s salary increased from $100,000 to $119,000.

“Planning and Zoning got three new positions for a total of about $175,000,” said DeMasi.

Upper Darby employees also have a cushy health plan, he noted. They get a zero deductible, $1,000 out-of-pocket maximum for an individual and $2,000 maximum for a family.

“Ten dollars to visit your primary care physician. Three dollars for a generic prescription, $5 for a brand, no matter what brand, preferred or not. Free surgery. There is no charge for surgery.  Forty dollars to visit the emergency room. Twenty-eight dollars to visit an urgent care. What is the incentive to control costs?” asked DeMasi.

“I think it’s fair to say that the vast majority of the residents of Upper Darby – whom they are telling to pay 1 percent of their income – don’t have that kind of benefit or anything anywhere close,” he said.

Instead of a sudden 1 percent EIT, he’d prefer the township start with a .25 percent EIT.

A spokesman for the township sent a response on behalf of Brown and Upper Darby, saying they were disappointed by the new litigation against the EIT.

“This opposition stems from a small group focusing on technicalities rather than addressing the core sustainability issues facing the township. Over the past year, we have held approximately 11 public meetings to clearly explain the need for EIT and to be transparent with our community about the financial challenges facing the municipality. The proposed EIT is a crucial step to address the significant operational and capital shortfalls projected based on studies from a leading independent municipal finance advisor and a financial advisory firm specializing in serving the government.

“This proposal is neither extreme nor without precedent. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, as of 2013, 2,356 municipalities in the state have implemented an EIT, including all municipalities with a population similar to Upper Darby.

“Upper Darby, with more than 86,000 residents, depends on reliable municipal services such as fire protection, road maintenance, sanitation, and police protection. With the (possible) closure of Crozer Hospital, we now must add emergency medical services to that list of underfunded services.

“The costs of these essential services continue to rise due to inflation and increased labor expenses, while our revenue base remains stagnant. Currently, the township relies too heavily on local property taxes, placing an undue and growing burden on homeowners. The EIT offers a more sustainable and fair revenue stream that would reduce pressure on property taxpayers and also ensure that certain non-residents who work within the township contribute.

“Our administration and the majority of council are confident that all proper procedures were followed in adopting this tax. The EIT is set to take effect on July 1, 2025, giving the township sufficient time to prepare and allowing residents time to adjust. We are confident in the legality of our actions and will strongly defend the council’s right to implement the EIT as passed.

“We remain dedicated to fiscal responsibility, government transparency, and providing essential services to the people of Upper Darby. Our residents deserve nothing less,” they said.

DeMasi questioned the township officials’ justification for the tax hike.

“Increasing the licenses and inspections director (salary) from $103,000 to $154,000 is a lot of sustaining,” he said. “They are sustaining $34,000 health insurance subsidies.”

The plaintiffs– DeMasi, John Vizzarri, Rebecca Duggan, and Joanne Nammavong–also asked the court to award them the cost of the litigation.

Beth Ann Rosica, a West Chester mother of two teenage sons, is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the state of Pennsylvania, claiming an agency overstepped when it unilaterally changed how a person’s sex is defined.

With little notice, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) changed its guidance regarding what sex means, declaring that rather than the biological definition, “under the PHRA may refer to sex assigned at birth, sexual orientation, transgender identity, gender transition, gender identity, and/or gender expression depending on the individual facts of the case.”

Rosica told DV Journal she discovered the change when looking into the Moms for Liberty case where a federal judge ruled in favor of the mother’s group to block former President Joe Biden’s Title IX changes and to keep boys out of girls’ restrooms and off girls’ teams.

She found out many Pennsylvania school districts were following the PHRC guidance.

“They still had policies that required them to follow PHRC regulations,” said Rosica. When she began digging into the PHRC regulations, she found that the agency had enacted them in 2023 under Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) and “nobody in the state legislature was involved. And they basically expanded the definition of sex to include gender identity.”

And even though President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning males from playing on women’s sports teams, Pennsylvania school districts were continuing to allow it. They also allowed men and boys to use women’s locker rooms and restrooms.

Rosica joined other concerned parents—Aaron Bernstine, Jason Saylor, Barbara Gleim, and Alexandra Pasternak—and filed a petition against the governor and the PHRC, alleging the new guidance is a violation of the state constitution and the non-delegation doctrine.  They’ve teamed up with the Thomas More Society, a public interest law firm, along with like-minded school districts South Side Area and Knoch.

Thomas King III of Dillon, McCandless, King, Coulter and Graham is a special counsel to the Thomas More Society in this case. He explained that while Trump’s order covers these schools, “we (also) have an underlying state regulation that is inconsistent with his order.”

“And that is being thrown in the face of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA), for example, that is being threatened with a lawsuit by the ACLU and others.” The PIAA, which governs school sports teams in Pennsylvania, had said it would follow Trump’s executive order.

“The particular state regulation was improperly adopted, should never have existed,” King told DV Journal. “When the Democrats in the legislature tried to amend Pennsylvania statutes — and over the past several years, they’ve tried on a number of occasions — every single time it failed. So, what’s happened here is they’ve circumvented the legislature, and they’ve tried to do it through administrative regulations from an unelected body appointed by the governor.”

And that is unconstitutional, said King, since “it’s the legislature that’s supposed to make the laws, not a group of unelected bureaucrats.”

Shapiro, answering a reporter’s question about this complaint at a press conference on Tuesday, said he hadn’t seen the suit, but mentioned that William Penn, “who founded this commonwealth as a place that would be warm and welcoming to all people. And I think it is my responsibility as someone who’s been passed down the torch of leadership from William Penn to make sure Pennsylvania remains a place that is warm and welcoming for all, including people in the LGBTQ+ community.  I understand there are those who want to score a cheap political point by bullying a trans kid, by making it harder for people to make it harder to marry who they want. That’s just not who I am, and I’m sure that’s not who the vast majority of Pennsylvanians are.”

There is no connection between banning biological males from women’s sports, and same-sex marriage.

“I’ve worked hard for women to have equal rights,” Rosica said.

“And when we’re allowing boys to compete against girls in sports or invade their private spaces, I just think that is wrong, and I think that we have a moral responsibility to point this out and get these regulations overturned,” she said. “I believe they’re unconstitutional. I don’t think they had the authority to change them. They did it very quietly. Nobody was talking about this in 2023 when the regulations (were adopted).”

The mother of a Quakertown Community School District student filed a federal lawsuit after her daughter, a student athlete, was forced to compete against a biological male.

The Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) and the U.S. Department of Education are also defendants, as well as the Colonial School District.

The suit, filed by Holly Magalengo on behalf of her daughter A.M., claims A.M.’s constitutional rights were violated and she suffered harm.

A.M. is a senior and a member of the Quakertown Community High School girls’ cross-country team, which competed against the Plymouth Whitemarsh High School team on Sept. 11, 2024.

A biological male, L.A., competed for Plymouth Whitemarsh against the all-female Quakertown team and won. A.M. came in second.

A.M. told L.A., “You are not a girl. You should not be racing against girls,” the suit said.

The PWMHS cross-country coaching staff complained to the QHS coaching staff about A.M.’s comment. They also said they’d reach out to QHS Athletic Director Brian Laiacona.

On Sept. 12, 2024, A.M.’s parents asked QHS for support in keeping biological males from competing in female sports and protecting female athletes, the suit said.

They were rebuffed and told it was the decision of the Plymouth Whitemarsh High School, “which we do not control.”

“Women and men are not biologically equal,” the suit noted. Citing statistics, it said, “Women will not run, jump, swim or ride as fast as men.”

“On Dec. 13, 2024, A.M. was again subjected to violations of her equal protection rights when she had to compete against L.A. in the 4X400 during the DVGTCA Meet. PWMHS and the PIAA again allowed the biological male to race in a women’s race, providing that L.A. was a female. The defendants’ actions harmed A.M.,” the suit said. She asks for “damages for the violation of her civil rights, financial loss, physical harm, humiliation, mental anguish, and emotional distress in amounts to be determined at trial and as are allowed under the statute.”

Brian Laiacona, Quakertown Community High School’s athletic director, told DVJournal, “Different sports organizations and governing bodies have various policies in place to address concerns with yours, aiming to create an environment where all athletes can compete.

“The PIAA bylaws in Article XVI Section 4E states: ‘Where a student’s gender is questioned or uncertain, the decision of the principal as to the student’s gender will be accepted by the PIAA.’ The decision for which team their student-athlete competes under is the decision of the Plymouth Whitemarsh School District administration, which we do not control.”

Polls show Americans overwhelmingly support keeping biological males out of girls sports. In January, the U.S. House passed the bipartisan “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” with the support of Bucks County Republican Rep Brian Fitzpatrick.

The three Democrats who represent the Delaware Valley — Reps. Dean, Houlahan and Scanlon — all voted “no.”

President Donald Trump signed an executive order preventing biological males from competing on girls’ teams.

Asked about the Quakertown case, Craig Trainor, Acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, told DVJournal, “As President Trump made clear, any entity that receives taxpayer dollars and violates Title IX faces losing federal funding. We encourage anyone enduring discrimination or retaliation because of a covered institution’s suspected Title IX violation to file a complaint with OCR. The Trump Education Department will continue to work to ensure schools and athletic associations across the country are in compliance with Title IX, and we welcome states to do the same.”

Jamie Reed, executive director of the Courage Coalition and a whistleblower who formerly worked at a gender change clinic, told DVJournal the differences between male and female athletes are obvious.

“I hold a master’s of science in clinical research. Medical providers absolutely know the difference between girls and boys, men and women. And there are also really easy ways in sports to do this. There can be a simple oral swab that goes in the cheek if we really need to determine sex.

Reed, who says she’s seen cases involving “gender-affirming care” from medical providers for children as young as age three, says the recent surge in gender dysphoria cases among children is in part a result of social pressures.

“Basically, they were given this message: ‘Do you feel distressed about your body and puberty? Then you’re probably trans.’ And that’s just the wrong message we needed to be sending to kids. And we also see that the kids who most latched onto this were girls who are incredibly susceptible to socially mediated forces. They’re very much concerned about their peers and their peer groups and appearance. And we just saw this explosion occur around the world.”

PIAA did  respond to a request to comment on Thursday. Colonial School District officials also declined to respond.

When Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sued the Trump administration over its federal funding freeze, he said he was just making sure the Keystone State gets what it deserves.

Political strategists, however, say Shapiro could also be ensuring he gets what he wants: More press attention as the Democratic Party ponders its 2028 nominee for president.

“This is good policy as the governor of Pennsylvania, and it happens to make for good national politics at the same time,” Dan Turrentine, a Democratic strategist and co-host of the popular Morning Meeting program on 2Way, told DVJournal.

Shapiro was reacting to a late January White House memo ordering a “temporary pause” on federal grant, loan, and other financial assistance programs. The freeze was lifted days later following an order from a federal judge. States also complained the Trump administration’s order would impact Medicaid funding as well.

Despite the judge’s intervention, Shapiro still filed suit Feb. 13, claiming the Trump administration was refusing to release $2.1 billion allocated to Pennsylvania through federal grants.

“Federal agencies are now unilaterally and arbitrarily suspending or restricting Commonwealth agencies’ access to the congressionally appropriated grant funds that have been committed to them,” Shapiro alleges in his court filing. The funds were appropriated in the Inflation Reduction Act and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, two massive spending bills signed by former President Joe Biden.

Shapiro said his office tried to work with the feds and Pennsylvania’s congressional delegation to get the funds released, but to no avail. He argued the government was breaking a contract with the Commonwealth because the funding was approved by Congress.

“We have committed [the money] to serious needs–like protecting public health, cutting energy costs, providing safe, clean drinking water, and creating jobs in rural communities,” said the governor.

The Governor’s Office said the money would be used to plug 500 orphaned and abandoned gas wells and build or maintain more than a dozen water treatment systems to deal with runoff from abandoned mines.

Calling the withholding of the funds “flagrantly lawless actions,” the filing suggests the action is being taken because President Donald Trump didn’t like how Congress divvied up the money. The petitioners added no law permits federal agencies from refusing to spend cash because of policy disagreements with a state.

But the Trump administration isn’t backing down.

White House deputy press secretary Harrison Fields told Axios the White House is ready for a fight.

“Radical Leftists can either choose to swim against the tide and reject the overwhelming will of the people, or they can get onboard and work with President Trump to advance his wildly popular agenda,” Fields said.

Shapiro’s suit said state agencies use the funds to avoid massive debt and obligations that “cannot be reimbursed.” The agencies can use some discretionary spending and reserves to cover “small unexpected debts” but not the whole $2.1 billion.

Shapiro’s filing also features a laundry list of complaints about Trump’s executive orders, more evidence of a political motive, observers say. And picking legal fights with presidents in the other party for political gain is hardly new.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott sued the Obama administration almost 50 times over alleged policy disagreements, while California Gov. Gavin Newsom sued the first Trump administration more than 120 times. California’s legislature recently set aside $50 million for future lawsuits against Trump.

Turrentine said it’s a smart strategy because it raises the governor’s profile for future Democratic primary voters. “He is standing up for what he thinks is right for his state, and for a lot of Democratic primary voters, they will agree.”

Republican strategist Vince Galko of Mercury Public Affairs, on the other hand, is less impressed.

“It’s window dressing that these elected officials have to do to show that they’re standing up for their party and showing some kind of token resistance,” said Galko.

The national media portrayed Shapiro as a more moderate Democrat compared to last year’s ticket of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. But Galko suggested the Shapiro suit put him in “100 percent lockstep” with the unpopular Biden administration.

“I don’t recall any suits coming from Shapiro on cuts or policies related to the Biden administration,” he quipped.

It sets up an interesting dynamic for a state that backed Trump in 2024 and saw Republicans sweep every statewide election. Shapiro, whose term ends in 2026, is widely believed to be running for a second term as governor, while keeping his eye on the 2028 presidential contest.

Environmental progressives encountered a Pennsylvania-sized setback this week after the Democrat candidate for attorney general said he wouldn’t support unilateral legal action against oil and gas companies.

“That is not a direction I am looking to go,” said Eugene DePasquale during a PA Chamber of Business and Industry candidate forum.

Anti-fossil-fuel activists have been filing lawsuits in state and local governments hoping to use nuisance ordinances and other local laws to punish global energy companies over global warming. The argument is that selling oil or natural gas in Belgium, Bangledesh or Belize results in damage in Bucks County, Pa.

And indeed, eight months ago, Bucks County commissioners authorized a lawsuit against the world’s largest oil producers over climate change.

“We’re already seeing the human and financial tolls of climate change beginning to mount, and if the oil companies’ own data is to be believed, the trend will continue,” Democrat Commission Chair Diane Ellis-Marseglia said at the time.

She portrayed the suit as a way to fund public works projects like retrofitting county-owned buildings to withstand powerful storms. “All of which will put us in the best possible position to weather what is certain to come,” asserted Ellis-Marseglia.

The lawsuit encountered issues almost immediately.

Barely a week after Bucks County announced the plan, Republican Commissioner Gene DiGirolamo said he was backing out. DiGirolamo gave no reason for the change of heart.

Oil companies fought back.

Court documents filed over the summer accused Bucks County commissioners of failing to advertise and vote at a public meeting on the suit. The county was also accused of attempting an end-around previous federal court rulings by filing suit in Pennsylvania court.

“[Bucks County] seeks to impose liability based on the theory that [oil companies] caused – through alleged deception and failure to warn consumers – emissions to enter the worldwide atmosphere at a level that [commissioners believe] to be injurious,” wrote Frederick Santarelli, the attorney for Chevron Corporation.

He added federal and state courts have said “state law cannot be used to obtain relief” for climate change. That included Delaware and Maryland courts that dismissed suits because they went beyond state law.

Chevron and other energy corporations have said the suits aren’t legal because they seek to redress grievances made by interstate and worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. They argue Bucks County wants to use Pennsylvania law against alleged violations in China and Africa – locations that are hundreds of thousands of miles away from the Keystone State. That can’t happen because federal jurisdiction trumps the states, specifically the Clean Air Act.

“[Bucks County wants the court] to impose liability and damages on a selected group of energy companies under Pennsylvania law because of their – and many others’ – global production, promotion, and distribution of those lawful products,” wrote Santarelli.

At the same time, Santarelli suggested the Bucks County government ignored the benefits of oil and gas. He pointed to the use of oil and gas in not only powering homes, but also vehicles so people can go to and from work. That’s not allowed by Pennsylvania or federal law.

Pennsylvania law may not allow so-called nuisance suits, where companies are targeted for the actions of third parties. The Commonwealth Court ruled in 2007 that the ‘nuisance’ term covers “the unreasonable use by one person” of personal or real property. Santarelli argued there’s a clear boundary between nuisance and product liability that “must be respected” to avoid a flood of liability suits.

Energy advocates argue Bucks County’s suit ignored the fact American carbon emissions have plummeted since 2005 largely due to the pivot to natural gas to fuel power plants. Carbon emissions are down 15 percent, according to the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions.

Kurt Knaus with the Pennsylvania Alliance for Energy told DVJournal there’s no evidence the lawsuits will do anything but line the pockets of out-of-state attorneys.

“Pennsylvanians want energy development that is safe and responsible, while preserving jobs and keeping prices affordable. The more our leaders embrace these facts and smart policy, the better off Pennsylvania residents and businesses will be,” he said.

Now, Democratic attorney general candidate DePasquale describes these anti-fossil-fuel efforts as a policy initiative, indicating it should be left to the Governor’s Office, the General Assembly, or Congress to decide.

More significantly, DePasquale endorsed an all-of-the-above strategy combining renewable and traditional energy sources to power the grid and fight climate change. “Simply punishing companies [for oil and gas] isn’t going to get us there,” he said.

After a hearing on Friday, Delaware County Common Pleas Judge John J. Whelan dismissed a lawsuit over voting machines brought by a Republican congressional candidate and others.

Alfeia Goodwin is challenging three-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon.

“The judge’s decision was anticipated, and we’re appealing,” Goodwin told DVJournal.

The suit claimed the 18 Hart Verity voting machines in question should be quarantined and the FBI should be called in to investigate who installed the rogue software, the lawsuit says. Also, the county’s other 838 machines should be tested to see if they have the same issues.

Goodwin’s co-plaintiff, Robert Mancini, a computer cyber-security expert, said MathNET Numerics Dll, a program not authorized by state or federal elections officials, was found on the machines. He warned the county council about the MathNET program at its April 17 meeting before the state primary.  The county took no action to remove it, he said.

The county welcomed the court’s decision, according to a press release.

“The court’s ruling, issued after a thorough five-hour hearing, confirmed that the Bureau of Elections and Voting Machine Warehouse had fully complied with regulations and conducted additional testing that exceeded state requirements,” county officials said.

At the close of the hearing, Whelan said the county’s performance of testing beyond what the state requires weighed in the ruling. He stated the evidence suggests Delaware County voters should feel confident in their election systems.

“This decision confirms what we have said all along: our voting equipment is secure, reliable, and compliant with both federal and state standards,” said Delaware County Elections Director Jim Allen. “The thoroughness of our Logic and Accuracy testing demonstrates our commitment to fair elections. We encourage voters to participate in the upcoming election with full confidence that every vote will be counted accurately and transparently.”

He called the claims made in the lawsuit “baseless.”

“The county’s Logic and Accuracy testing—a vital component of election preparation—ensures that all voting machines function correctly and match the certified software. In addition to pre-election testing, the county conducts a test to verify that the software in use perfectly matches the software that was certified by the federal government. The election offices also perform post-election audits and recounts, including hand recounts, to further verify the accuracy and reliability of election results.

The lawsuit sought emergency relief, claiming improper software had been installed on the county’s voting machines. However, the plaintiffs failed to provide evidence of these claims, county officials said.

Mancini said, “Judge Whelan does not understand that software not verified by the EAC is not allowed on Electronic Voting Systems. Defendant Delaware County successfully conflated the difference between loading software and validating that the software matches the original build that was tested in an accredited lab by the Election Assistance Commission.

“The judge ruled that non-technical people can make a technical decision,” he added. “Not a single witness knew what the output a ‘trusted build validation’ or what a hash code is ! The judge allowed software that has not been tested, verified and validated on the scanner, a software package that is designed specifically to manipulate date because it was too much work to count the ballot by hand.”

(This article first appeared in Broad + Liberty)

State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, also the Democrats’ nominee for auditor general in this November’s election, was sued in January by Drexel University for more than $36,000 in unpaid tuition and late fees, according to court documents.

A university ledger for Kenyatta’s account filed as an exhibit in the case shows the Philly-based politician began accruing a balance with Drexel in the spring of 2014, enrolling in the Graduate College of Arts and Sciences.

Kenyatta made several payments through much of 2014, but by November and December that year, the university began regularly assessing late payment fees against him that continued into 2017. He enrolled for more classes in 2019, but by 2021 the late payment fees began again — this time costing about $300 each month for 15 consecutive months.

“Although demand [for payment] therefore has been made repeatedly, the Defendant has failed to pay the balance due,” the filing says. The filing asks for the balance of $36,139, another $500 for attorney fees incurred thus far, while leaving the door open for more attorney fees plus interest.

A spokesperson for Kenyatta brushed the lawsuit aside, suggesting there was nothing unusual.

“Like millions of Americans, Rep. Kenyatta carries debt from pursuing higher education. This matter is no longer pending and was settled between the parties in 2024,” said spokesperson Mike Mikus.

Mikus provided a screenshot from February demonstrating a settlement between Kenyatta and Drexel. The screenshot is a text from Kenyatta’s attorney, Wade Albert, and shows a settlement amount of $37,585.

As a state legislator, Kenyatta earns a salary of $106,422 per year, plus an allowance of $185 each day for expenses.

Even with the outstanding balance, Drexel featured Kenyatta in an “alumni spotlight” article.

“On the value of his graduate education, Kenyatta remarks, ‘Everything I learned in the program enhanced my skills as a leader and a communicator to constituents. You have to be clear and concise in your message. You have to communicate in an accessible manner. You have to know what you’re talking about,’” the profile said.

The Philly Democrat was ensnared in controversy earlier this year before the primary election. While doing door-to-door campaigning, a woman’s in-home security camera recorded Kenyatta saying one of his Democratic opponents “don’t like Black people.”

“There’s the guy, Mark Pinsley, who I told you don’t like Black people,” Kenyatta said. “He’s still running so we’ll see if he can get on the ballot. I have no idea. He’s from the Lehigh Valley.”

Kenyatta will face off in November against Republican incumbent Tim DeFoor to be Pennsylvania’s “chief fiscal watchdog.”

What is life like for Jewish students on college campuses in the Philadelphia suburbs?

Barak Mendelsohn, a professor of political science at Haverford College, posted a message to X from a Jewish student who was considering coming to Haverford this fall but decided not to.

“First, [I] had some great conversations with other students, but when they hear that I went to Jewish Day School and am a Jew, I get asked almost immediately if I support Israel, and if I’m Zionist, I either get blocked or ridiculed by other Haverford students who I barely even know,” the student wrote to Mendelsohn, to partly explain the decision.

Mendelsohn believes that person is one of many Jewish students who have chosen not to attend the small but prestigious college founded by Quakers in 1833.

Because it’s a small college rather than a larger university, students can’t easily avoid others who harass them, Mendelsohn said.

“It’s a pressure cooker [for the Jewish students],” Mendelsohn told DVJournal. “The social pressures on students here are just tremendous. And to hear stories from students, where people they thought were their friends, telling them that because they are Zionist, which means believing, just believing, in Israel’s right to exist, is a huge part of our identity…[they say] ‘I will not be your friend. We cannot be in connection. You got to reject that part of your identity.’ Now imagine if that kind of pressure on gays [or] students of color. However, that [antisemitism] seems to be completely socially acceptable among the students.”

“And my heart just bleeds for them because I can’t protect them,” said Mendelsohn.

The college administration “seems content on having fewer and fewer” Jewish students.  It’s because of their notion of the world, their DEI [Diversity, Equity, Inclusion] ideology that divides everyone into oppressors and oppressed, that puts Jews inherently as the White oppressors.”

In May, the Deborah Project, a public interest law firm, sued Haverford College in federal court on behalf of “Jews at Haverford,” alleging civil rights violations against Jewish students.

“Haverford College has repeatedly, officially, refused to condemn Hamas for the atrocities it committed against Jews on Oct. 7, 2023, even though the impact of those atrocities on Jewish students at Haverford was surely as brutal as the impact on students of color when a Black man was killed by the Philadelphia police. Haverford College made no public statement condemning the brutal violence committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, when over a thousand Jews were murdered, mutilated, burned alive and raped to death, when hundreds were taken hostage, all in explicit and proudly announced violation of international law, videotaped by the perpetrators themselves, so there could be no doubt as to whether these atrocities occurred, or who committed them,” the suit said.

“Instead, Haverford Dean McKnight issued a public statement on Oct. 9. That statement took no moral stance on Hamas’s actions. Haverford College instead compared the butchery of Jews in Israel by a known terrorist group committed to eradicating the Jewish State and slaughtering all the Jews within it to a ‘hurricane’ or other natural disaster—thereby completely ignoring and refusing to take a position on, the gross immorality of what was done, by Hamas terrorists in less than two days to these hundreds of Jews. When a Jewish student leader complained, Dean [John] McKnight responded that, ‘I got emails from all different individuals; I can’t make everyone happy.’”

Pro-Palestinian students have been very active on campus, including holding an ‘Israel Apartheid Month’ of events in March.

Chris Mills, a spokesman for Haverford said the college does  not comment on ongoing litigation. But lawyers for the college filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit on July 15. The motion claims the plaintiff’s allegations are “untethered to fact” and that the college is “deeply committed to opposing antisemitism and all forms of hate, both on and off campus.”

Mendelsohn, who emigrated from Israel 20 years ago, said he’s experienced hostility as a Jewish professor at Haverford.

“Until Oct. 7, I was a scholar and an educator,” said Mendelsohn, an expert on terrorism and Middle East security issues who has taught at Haverford for 17 years. “I’m suddenly back to being a Jew from Israel, not even an American Jew. And that’s horrible. It was a huge shock.”

“And to see our Jewish students suffering, being isolated and ostracized and ignored is just heartbreaking,” said Mendelsohn.

A math professor who has been “regularly spewing antisemitic rhetoric that celebrated Oct. 7” was given an award from the student body. That was “sticking a finger in the eyes of the Jewish community,” Mendelsohn said.  The administration could disavow responsibility because the award came from the students, he said.

“It’s just despicable what we’re experiencing,” said Mendelsohn.

Mills said, “We are saddened to learn that an incoming first-year Haverford student plans to withdraw from our Class of 2028. Everyone at Haverford College is a welcome member of our community and deserves to feel so. That principle is core to our values of trust, concern, and respect. So is the principle of respecting the right to free expression; however, that comes with limits.

“Specifically, hateful or discriminatory expression is not tolerated. We are investigating this matter and have invited the student to share the posts with us so we can learn more. The outcome of our investigation will determine next steps, including disciplinary action if appropriate. Our Office of Student Life is in contact with this student to fully understand the matter and to provide support,” he said.

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A federal judge denied a request for an injunction against the University of Pennsylvania that would have prevented Penn from giving Congress information about a Palestinian literary festival held at the university.

A group of professors and students called Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine sued Penn to stop it from complying with a request for documents from a U.S. House of Representatives committee. Lawyers for Penn filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit for lack of standing.

Judge Mitchell S. Goldberg, chief judge for the Southeastern District of Pennsylvania, dismissed the group’s lawsuit on June 24.

Lead plaintiffs Huda Fakhreddine, a professor of Arabic literature who organized the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, and Eve Troutt Powell, who teaches Middle Eastern history,  did not respond to requests for comment.

Penn spokesman Ron Ozio said the university does not comment on litigation.

Jewish leaders had asked Penn to distance itself from the Palestine Writes Festival, which began Sept. 22, 2023, and overlapped Yom Kippur. It was held near Hillel, where Jewish students would worship. They also objected to listed speakers, some of whom were known antisemites, including Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame, who supported the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement and compared Israel to Nazi Germany. Another presenter listed was Marc Lamont Hill, who was fired from CNN after using the phrase “free Palestine from the river to the sea,” often viewed as a call for the destruction of Israel and the Jews who live there.

The festival preceded the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and the ensuing protests at Penn that culminated with a tent encampment.

Former Penn President Liz Magill testified before the House Education and Workforce Committee, and her remarks saying calls for Jewish genocide are allowed “in context” led to her eventual resignation.

In his opinion, Goldberg noted the House committee sent Penn a letter expressing “grave concerns regarding the inadequacy of Penn’s response to antisemitism on its campus.”

“The letter consists of a narrative of events and a document request. It mentions the Palestine Writes Literature Festival, which it states included ‘antisemitic speakers,’ and criticizes Fakhreddine by name for her statements about Israel.”

Part of the House request regarded “disciplinary … processes,” Palestine Writes Literature Festival, and various Penn-affiliated organizations and events. The letter is not a subpoena and does not legally compel Penn to produce documents. Nonetheless, Penn has indicated it will honor the Committee’s request.”

Further, the plaintiffs argued that if Penn gives the documents to the House committee, “it will “threaten” them with “a renewed and continued barrage of death and rape threats and hate speech” and could expose “members of [Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine] who have not previously been doxxed.”

Goldberg added, “Plaintiffs thus seek an order prohibiting Penn from complying with the House Committee’s request. The plaintiffs’ complaint does not identify the documents or information they believe Penn will produce. In particular, plaintiffs do not allege whether documents Penn plans to produce would include their personal contact information such as home addresses.”

The judge found the plaintiffs did not have standing because the documents the House requested were not “defamatory” and did not have private details like their home address.

“The fact that plaintiffs were harassed before is not enough; plaintiffs need to show that Penn’s documents would contribute to that harassment,” the judge wrote.

However, he said he would allow them to refile their case if they can “in good faith” allege facts supporting their standing or right to file it.

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