BELL v. THORNBURGH


491 Pa. 263 (1980)

420 A.2d 443

Joe BELL, by his guardian and father, Timothy Bell; Vicki Boyer, by her guardian and sister, Romaine Ren; Leo Gerletski, by his guardian and brother, Frank Gerletski; Sharon Khourr, by her guardian and mother, Helen Boyer; Sam Kanyuck, by his guardian and brother, Albert Kanyuck; Marie LaRosa, by her guardian and husband, Michael LaRosa; Ida Lisnov, by her guardian and daughter, Florence Weiner; James Moran, by his guardians and parents, Mr. and Mrs. James Moran; Irene Nice, by her guardian and daughter, Catherine; Beverly Smith, by her guardian and husband, Charles Smith; Alex Weron, by his guardian and sister, Helen Lee; William Wunch, by his guardian and mother, Mildred Wunch; patients at Retreat State Hospital on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated, and Frank Crossin, County Commissioner of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania and John McDonald, Trustee of Retreat State Hospital, and Francis J. O'Connel, Senator, 20th Senatorial District, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Bernard O'Brien, Representative, 121st District, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Ronald Gatski, Representative, 116th District, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and Fred J. Shupnik, Representative, 119th District, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Raphael Musto, Representative, 118th District, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and George Hasay, Representative, 117th District, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Franklin Coslett, Representative, 120th District, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and Council 13, American Federation of State, County & Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO, by its Trustee Ad Litem, Gerald W. McEntee, Appellees, v. Honorable Richard THORNBURGH, Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: Department of Public Welfare: Helen O'Bannon, Secretary of Public Welfare, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; John Cuddy, Executive Deputy Secretary, Department of Public Welfare, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Kathryn McKenna, Regional Secretary, Department of Public Welfare, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; Department of General Services; Walter Baran, Secretary of the Department of General Services, Appellants.

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

September 22, 1980.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Jonathan Vipond, III, Philadelphia, for appellants.

Richard Kirschner, Philadelphia, for appellees.

Before EAGEN, C.J., and O'BRIEN, ROBERTS, NIX, LARSEN, FLAHERTY and KAUFFMAN, JJ.


OPINION OF THE COURT

LARSEN, Justice.

This is an appeal from a preliminary injunction issued by the President Judge of the Commonwealth Court (sitting as a Chancellor in equity) which, among other things,1 prohibited the Commonwealth from proceeding with its plans to close Retreat State Hospital ("Retreat") and prohibited the transfer of Retreat's patients to other state facilities. For the reasons stated below, we reverse that...

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