Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati and Speaker of the House Mike Turzai issued the following statement Monday regarding the U.S. Supreme Court denial of their request for a stay in the gerrymandering case:
“Today Supreme Court Justice Alito denied our stay petition for the Congressional Map Redistricting case. We understood when requesting the stay that this is a rarely used remedy, but given the chaos caused by the state Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the state’s congressional map, we believed the request was necessary.
“It is astounding that fourteen days after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled the map to be unconstitutional, the Justices have still not issued a majority opinion. This irresponsible approach handicapped Justice Alito by not providing him with more information, just as it has handicapped the Legislature.
“We still do not believe that there was a violation of the state Constitution, that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court can direct us to draw a new congressional map, or that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has the authority to draw a new Congressional District Map under the Pennsylvania Constitution or United States Constitution.
“We will do our best to comply with the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s January 22nd order, but may be compelled to pursue further legal action in federal court.”
