The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered reargument in at least 26 cases that were argued before the justices in 2015 but left undecided by the end of the year. The cases represent more than one-third of those presented at oral argument last year.
Justice J. Michael Eakin’s interim suspension, coupled with the end of Justice Correale F. Stevens’ interim term on the bench, left the court with just three members eligible to vote on any cases held over from 2015. Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor and Justices Max Baer and Debra Todd could have issued opinions in the cases, as they would have represented the majority of a five-member quorum of the court which heard argument, court observers said. But, in order to allow the trio of new justices to also cast votes, the court chose instead to request reargument.
