Lawsuit urges top state court to explain powers of AG Kathleen Kane, whose law license is suspended
Kathleen Kane’s booking photo. Photo from the Montgomery County District Attorney.
A non-practicing Pennsylvania attorney known for his political activism has filed a writ of mandamus on Monday asking the state’s top court to invoke its King’s Bench powers to determine if an attorney general with a suspended law license can continue to head the state attorney general’s office.
Eugene Paul “Gene” Stilp says in the filing, which can be found on Scribd, that the issue is almost certainly headed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court anyway, and is best dealt with sooner rather than later.
Stilp ran an unsuccessful campaign as a Democratic candidate for a seat in Congress in 2012. He has made no secret of his opposition to Kathleen Kane’s continued presence at the helm of the attorney general’s office following the suspension of her law license, and earlier suggested both the law license suspension and a still-ongoing review by a special state senate committee to determine whether state lawmakers should attempt to remove Kane from office, according to the Morning Call and PennLive.com.
Kane, a Democrat, had her law license suspended by the state’s top court as she faces a criminal case concerning the claimed leaking of grand jury information and alleged perjured testimony about the issue. She has maintained her innocence, portraying the case as political payback by an old-boys system she stirred up by releasing explicit emails sent or received by prosecutors and others. She says she can still do her job as AG, even with a suspended law license, because her work is largely administrative.
Although the senate committee has not yet determined whether to try to remove Kane, Stilp apparently anticipates that it is likely to do so: “Kane most assuredly will be filing a case to challenge the constitutionality of the actions of the senate and governor as the removal process unfolds,” Stilp told PennLive.com. “It is going to wind up here any way you look at it.”
The supreme court did not remove Kane from office when it suspended her law license, effective in late October, and now it is unclear what powers she can and cannot exercise as AG, says Stilp in the filing, which names Kane and her first deputy, Bruce Beemer, as respondents. Because Kane is still in office, it is not clear that Beemer has the power to act in Kane’s place, Stilp contends.
The state constitution and the Commonwealth Attorneys Act offer little guidance, he says, because drafters clearly did not contemplate that a “vacancy in office” might include a situation in which the sitting AG lacked an active law license.
In the filing, Stilp seeks: a writ of mandamus directing Kane and her chief deputies to explain in writing what duties she has and has not delegated since her law license suspension took effect; a supreme court ruling that the current situation does not constitute a vacancy in office; and a supreme court order specifically defining the duties that must now be transferred by Kane and the process for transferring them.
The PennLive.com story does not include any comment from Kane. However, she said in a Nov. 16 letter to the senate committee, which she released Monday, that her suspension is only temporary and removing her from office as AG would be permanent, PennLive.com reports in another story.
“Senate action of direct removal is permanent with no means of redress for the office holder or the citizens of Pennsylvania,” Kane said in the letter. “It would be an untenable situation wherein the senate carries out such a removal and the temporary suspension upon which it relies as justification is thereafter dissolved or amended.”
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “AG Kathleen Kane is ‘legally disabled,’ top deputy tells Pennsylvania senate committee”
Updated at 4:05 p.m. to clarify that Stilp is a non-practicing attorney.
