commonwealth of pennsylvania
patricia A. miles, esquire counsel
February 3, 2004
Mr. Jay H. Todd, Jr.
65 Midland Heights, Apt. F
Midland, PA 15059
Re: Recommendation 67 Dear Mr. Todd:
This letter is in response to your request for information directed to Mr.
Capristo that I received by facsimile transmission on February 2, 2004. For your
ease of reference, I also am enclosing a copy of your January 20, 2004 e-mail to
me, and my response, as many of your current requests were addressed in greater
detail in that earlier correspondence.
Pennsylvania's Right to Know Law does not apply to the judicial or
legislative branches of government, only to agencies and offices in the
executive branch. Nevertheless, I will try to respond to your new requests for
information.
The Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee was established by order of
the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Enclosed are copies of the following orders:
1. December 27, 1984 order establishing the Domestic Relations Section of the
Civil Procedural Rules Committee and appointing seven members to the section.
2. June 30, 1987 order creating the Domestic Relations Committee and
reappointing members from the previous section.
3. May 8, 1997 order redesignating the committee as the Domestic Relations
Procedural Rules Committee.
As a point of clarification, the Supreme Court does not amend laws. That is
the role of the legislature. The support statute, enacted by the legislature,
directed the Supreme Court to establish statewide support guidelines by general
rule. 23 Pa.C.S. §4322.
As I indicated in my January 14, 2004 response to your e-mail request of the
same date, a copy of Dr. Venohr's report may be obtained through the Department
of Public Welfare's Right to Know Office. The committee did not meet with any
experts or consultants other than Dr. Venohr.
As set forth in the enclosed January 20 response, minutes of committee
meetings, agenda materials and comments are internal documents and the committee
did not issue any interim reports. Committee meetings are not open to the
public. However, as you know, the committee publishes proposed recommendations
and invites comment from the public prior to submitting recommendations to the
Supreme Court.
Sincerely,
Patricia A. Miles Counsel
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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
IN RE: ESTABLISHMENT OF AND APPOINTMENTS TO DOMESTIC RELATIONS SECTION OF
CIVIL PROCEDURAL RULES COMMITTEE
NO. 97 CIVIL PROCEDURAL RULES
DOCKET #5
ORDER
AND NOW, this 27th day of December, 1984, a seven- member Domestic
Relations Section of the Civil Procedural Rules Committee is hereby established,
and the following are appointed as members of that Section for a term expiring
June 30, 1987:
The Honorable Anita B. Brody Montgomery County
The Honorable Nicholas A. Cipriani Philadelphia
The Honorable Tama M. Clark Philadelphia
Ronald D. Ecker, Esquire Allegheny County
Robert Raphael, Esquire Allegheny County
The Honorable Edward B. Rosenberg Philadelphia
The Honorable R. Stanton Wettick Allegheny County.
BY THE COURT:
Chief Just/ice
TRUE COPY FROM RECORD Attest: 12/28/84
Marlene F. Lachman, Esq. Prothonotary - Eastern District
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IN THE SUPREME COURT Of PENNSYLVANIA
IN REI DOMESTIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE
: NO. 123 CIVIL PROCEDURAL
:
» RULES DOCKET NO. 5
ORDER
AND NOW, this 30th day of June, 1987, a committee, to be known as the
Domestic Relations Committee, is hereby created. The following members of the
former Domestic Relations Section of the Civil Procedural Rules Committee are
hereby reappointed as members of the newly created Domestic Relations Committee
for a term expiring on June 30, 1990:
The Honorable Anita B. Brody Montgomery County
The Honorable Nicholas A. Cipriani Philadelphia
The Honorable Tama M. Clark Philadelphia
Ronald D. Ecker, Esquire Allegheny County
Robert Raphael, Esquire Allegheny County
The Honorable Edward B. Rosenberg Philadelphia
The Honorable R. Stanton Wettick, Jr. Allegheny County.
The Honorable Nicholas A. Clpriani is hereby designated as Chairman and The
Honorable R. Stanton Wettick, Jr., as Vice-Chairmar of the Domestic Relations
Committee.
Members who have served three full three-year terms shall not be eligible for
further reappointment.
BY THE COURT:
Chief Justice
TRUE COPY FROM RECORD Attest: 7/2/87.
MARLENE F. LACHMAN, ESQUIRE Prothonotary, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania,
Eastern District
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IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
IN RE: REDESIGNATION OP : NO. 178 SUPREME COURT RULES
: DOCKET NO. 1 DOMESTIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE :
ORDER
PER CURIAM:
AND NOW, this 8th day of May, 1997, the Domestic Relations Committee is
hereby redesignated and renamed as the Domestic Relations Procedural Rules
Committee.
To the extent that notice of proposed rulemaking would be required by Rule
103 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Administration or otherwise, this
Order is hereby found to be required in the interest of efficient
administration.
This Order shall be processed in accordance with Rule 103(b) of the
Pennsylvania Rules of Judicial Administration and shall be effective
immediately.
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Miles, Patricia
From: Miles, Patricia
Sent: Tuesday, January 20, 2004 3:02 PM
To: 'Jay Todd1
Subject: RE: Recommendation 67
Original Message~
From: Jay Todd [mailto:jay.todd@verizon.net]
Sent: Thursday, January 15, 2004 9:11 AM
To: Miles, Patricia
Subject: Recommendation 67
January 15,2004
Patricia A. Miles, Esquire
Counsel, Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee
5035 Ritter Road, Suite 700
Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania 17055
FAX (717) 795-2175
E-mail: patricia.miles @ pacourts.us
RE: Recom. 67
Dear Ms. Miles:
I am inquiring about the Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee
procedural methods in formulating Recommendation 67. In regards to this
recommendation, could you please provide me with:
All meeting dates of committee members, subject matter covered, meeting
minutes, and decisions made
Future meeting dates, and the agenda for the meetings
All consultants who have provided input to this committee.
The roles of committee members, i.e. authoring this report, reviewing
economic core data, recent court decision, etc,
All interm reports made by this committee
All public meetings dates for receiving the public comments, past and
future.
Any relevant information regarding the proposed recommendation.
Thank you for your consideration of my request. I look forward your response.
Yours truly,
Isl
Jay H. Todd, Jr. 65F Midland Heights Midland, PA 15059 Phone: 724.643.9219
Email: jay.todd@verizon.net
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January 20, 2004 Via E-Mail
Dear Mr. Todd:
The committee meets four or five times a year at various locations across the
commonwealth. The committee will meet in Philadelphia in February, Harrisburg in
May and State College in August of 2004. The meetings are not open to the
public. The agendas also are not public, and agenda items vary. The committee
reviews new case law and legislation and agenda items may involve whether an
amendment to the rules is necessary in light of evolving law. Most agenda items,
however, involve inquiries, complaints or suggestions from the committee
members, courts, attorneys, legislators, domestic relations personnel and the
public. The committee also monitors the practices and evolving law in other
jurisdictions. The committee constantly strives to improve the rules, correct
problems and facilitate the fair and expeditious treatment of litigants in all
areas of the state.
The committee is an advisory body. Its only authority is to make
recommendations to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court regarding the rules of civil
procedure governing divorce, support, custody, paternity and protection from
abuse matters. The Supreme Court can reject part or all or a recommendation,
amend it or promulgate it as submitted by the committee. Thus, the committee
does not have documents that are akin to a legislative history for use in
interpreting rules because the committee does not promulgate rules. Any
committee meeting minutes are for internal use only. However, the committee does
include notes and explanatory material with proposed rules. Although they are
published with the promulgated rules to assist in the application and clarify
intent, those materials are not formally adopted by the court and are not part
of the rules. Nevertheless, the explanatory materials are there to provide
insight into the committee's recommendation. Recommendation 67 includes lengthy
explanatory materials.
Federal regulations require that the guidelines be reviewed at least once
every four years and that the review include an assessment of the most recent
economic data on child-rearing costs. As I know you are aware, in light of our
earlier correspondence, the economic expertise for this review was provided by
Dr. Jane Venohr of Policy Studies, Inc. through a contract between Policy
Studies and the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare. Dr. Venohr met will
the committee on two occasions. All committee members reviewed all of the
material provided by Dr. Venohr. In addition, the committee reviewed material on
the cost shares model and U.S. Department of Agriculture surveys at the request
of a support obligor who wrote to the committee. The committee further reviewed
processes and procedures in other jurisdictions, scholarly and news articles,
etc. The committee reviews court decisions on an ongoing basis.
The committee did not issue any interim reports. The only material issued by
the committee was Recommendation 67 and the publication notice inviting public
comment.
The committee is not a legislative body and does not hold public hearings.
The means for providing comment is to write to the committee through this
office. I can assure you that every comment letter is provided to each committee
member. The committee will meet in May shortly after the conclusion of the
comment period to review all comments submitted.
I hope this information is helpful.
Sincerely, Patricia A. Miles
