Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania (the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) is one of four states of the United States of America that is called a commonwealth. It has given its name to the Pennsylvanian time period in geology. Pennsylvania is called the Keystone State.

Law and government

Like all American states, Pennsylvania has a government which is separated into an executive, a legislature, and a judiciary, the powers and duties of which are established by the Pennsylvania Constitution. The capital of Pennsylvania is in Harrisburg.

Related Topics:
Separated - Executive - Legislature - Judiciary - Pennsylvania Constitution - Capital - Harrisburg

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Executive branch

The head of the executive branch is the Governor, who is currently Democrat Edward G Rendell, a former mayor of Philadelphia. The other elected officials composing the executive branch are the Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Auditor General, and State Treasurer. The Governor's cabinet consists of the eighteen appointed heads of Pennsylvania state agencies: the Secretary of the Commonwealth, Adjutant General, Secretary of Education, Insurance Commissioner, Secretary of Banking, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Health, State Police Commissioner, Secretary of Labor and Industry, Secretary of Public Welfare, Secretary of Revenue, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Community Affairs, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Environmental Resources, Secretary of General Services, Secretary of Aging, and the Secretary of Corrections.

Related Topics:
Governor - Currently - Edward G Rendell - Philadelphia - Pennsylvania state agencies

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Legislative branch

Pennsylvania has had a bicameral legislature since 1790. The Pennsylvania General Assembly consists of a Senate with 50 members and a House of Representatives with 203. Notable General Assembly members include Senate President Pro Tempore Robert C. Jubelirer (R), Senate Majority Leader David J. Brightbill (R), Senate Minority Leader Robert J. Mellow (D), Speaker of the House of Representatives John M. Perzel (R), House Majority Leader Samuel H. Smith (R), House Minority Leader H. William DeWeese (D), and Senate Minority Appropriations Chairman Vincent Fumo (D).

Related Topics:
Bicameral legislature - Pennsylvania General Assembly - Senate - House of Representatives - President Pro Tempore - Robert C. Jubelirer - R - Majority Leader - David J. Brightbill - Minority Leader - Robert J. Mellow - Speaker - John M. Perzel - Samuel H. Smith - H. William DeWeese - Vincent Fumo

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Judicial branch

Pennsylvania is divided into 60 judicial districtshttp://www.courts.state.pa.us/Index/CommonPleas/Judicialdistricts.asp, most of which (save Philadelphia and Allegheny Counties) have district justices (formerly called justices of the peace), who preside mainly over minor criminal offenses and small civil claims. The Philadelphia Municipal Court and the Pittsburgh police magistrate court have similar jurisdiction, but are limited to those locations. As Philadelphia is coterminous with Philadelphia County, the Pittsburgh police magistrate court is the only true city-level court in the state.

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The general trial courts in which most criminal and civil cases originate are the Courts of Common Pleas. They also serve as appellate courts to the district justices and for local agency decisions. The Courts of Common Pleas serving the larger Pennsylvania counties are divided into specialized divisions.

Related Topics:
Trial - Appellate court

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The state has two intermediate-level appellate courts: the Superior Court and the Commonwealth Court. The fifteen judges of the Superior Court hear all appeals from the Courts of Common Pleas not expressly designated to the Commonwealth Court or Supreme Court. It also has original jurisdiction to review warrants for wiretap surveillance. The jurisdiction of the nine-judge Commonwealth Court is limited to appeals from final orders of certain state agencies and certain designated cases from the Courts of Common Pleas. The Commonwealth Court also functions as a trial court in some civil suits, including cases that involve the state or its officers as parties, and cases regarding statewide elections.

Related Topics:
Original jurisdiction - Warrant - Wiretap

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Pennsylvania's entire judicial system is under the supervision of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, which is also the final appellate court for both the Superior Court and the Commonwealth Court. It also hears appeals directly from the Courts of Common Pleas in certain cases, including from murder convictions in which the death penalty has been imposed, the right to public office, criminal contempt, and any case in which the Court of Common Pleas ruled that a state law was unconstitutional. Like all judges in Pennsylvania, the seven justices of the Supreme Court are chosen by public election; the chief justice is the justice with the most seniority.

Related Topics:
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania - Contempt - Chief justice

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Representation in the federal government

Related Topics:
Consensus - Quaker - Voting

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Pennsylvania's two U.S. senators are Rick Santorum (Republican) and Arlen Specter (Republican). Pennsylvania's 19 representatives in the House are Robert Brady (D, 1st District); Chaka Fattah (D, 2nd District); Phil English (R, 3rd District); Melissa Hart (R, 4th District); John E. Peterson (R, 5th District); Jim Gerlach (R, 6th District); Curt Weldon (R, 7th District); Michael Fitzpatrick (R, 8th District); Bill Shuster (R, 9th District); Don Sherwood (R, 10th District); Paul E. Kanjorski (D, 11th District); John Murtha (D, 12th District); Allyson Schwartz (D, 13th District); Mike Doyle (D, 14th District); Charlie Dent (R, 15th District); Joe Pitts (R, 16th District); Tim Holden (D, 17th District); Tim Murphy (R, 18th District); and Todd Russell Platts (R, 19th District).

Related Topics:
Senators - Rick Santorum - Arlen Specter - House - Robert Brady - Chaka Fattah - Phil English - Melissa Hart - John E. Peterson - Jim Gerlach - Curt Weldon - Michael Fitzpatrick - Bill Shuster - Don Sherwood - Paul E. Kanjorski - John Murtha - Allyson Schwartz - Mike Doyle - Charlie Dent - Joe Pitts - Tim Holden - Tim Murphy - Todd Russell Platts

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Politics in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania is considered a swing state as its politics are not dominated by any single party. As of 2005, the Republican Party holds both houses of the state legislature, both United States Senate seats and a majority of the state's seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, but the Democratic Party holds the governor's seat and their candidate has won the state in the past four presidential elections. Bill Clinton carried the state twice, Al Gore won here in 2000 as did John Kerry in 2004 with a slim 50.9% of the vote. The state is divided into heavily left leaning areas along the sides. Democrats are the majority in the Philadelphia area, as well as around Allentown, Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in the east, and in the southwestern part of the state, the Pittsburgh area in the west and Erie in the northwest. The northern and central part of the state, nicknamed the Republican 'T, is more rural and tends to be very conservative. James Carville, the outspoken Democratic strategist, summed up Pennsylvania politics as "Philadelphia on one end, Pittsburgh on the other, with Alabama in the middle."

Related Topics:
Swing state - As of 2005 - Republican - United States Senate - U.S. House of Representatives - Democratic - Bill Clinton - Al Gore - John Kerry - Allentown - Scranton - Wilkes-Barre - Erie - James Carville

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• U.S. presidential election, 2004, in Pennsylvania