Threats to the Pennsylvania Constitution Symposium

Click here to watch a recording of the program. 

The Constitution of Pennsylvania, like that of the United States, was designed to ensure our future as a republic, or in Madison’s words, a government in which all power comes directly or indirectly from the people. The separation of powers and checks and balances were designed to block an accumulation of power in the hands of any one body and the use of that power to undermine the rule of law and our representative democracy.

Members of the General Assembly have been putting forward a series of constitutional amendments that in dramatic ways would change how we choose legislators and Justice and judges as well as change the balance of power between the different branches of government.

This symposium considers these proposed constitutional amendments and asks whether they enhance or threaten the republican character of the government of Pennsylvania.

Moderator: Judge Frederica Massiah-Jackson (Ret.) | Retired Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge

Panelists:

• Craig Green, Professor of Law | Temple University Beasley School of Law
• Bruce Ledewitz, Professor of Law | Duquesne University School of Law
• Rogers Smith, Professor of Political Science | University of Pennsylvania

This webinar was hosted by Common Cause Pennsylvania, the Judicial Independence Project of PA, New Pennsylvania Project, the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, and Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts.