Seeking Kane’s removal, Pa. activist to sue
Gene Stilp, right, marches ahead of the Members of the Marcellus Shale Coalition headed for a rally on the steps of the Pennsylvania state Capitol last year. The activist says he will file suit against the state Senate to force besieged state Attorney General Kathleen Kane out of office. (AP file photo)
An activist is trying to enlist Pennsylvania’s high court in his effort to drive besieged state Attorney General Kathleen Kane out of office.
Dauphin County resident Gene Stilp plans to sue the state Senate and the governor to prompt them to oust Kane by way of a vaguely defined process in the state Constitution known as “direct removal.” For more than a month, legislative aides have pondered the move, though it’s not clear how it would work.
Stilp said he’ll file the suit Tuesday “to force Governor Wolf and the Senate to remove Kathleen Kane as soon as possible.” Stilp has previously called for Kane to resign, following criminal charges filed against her in August by the Montgomery County district attorney’s office.
“She cannot function as attorney general and also she has a list of crimes that she’s going to be tried for,” Stilp added. “This is not the person we want as attorney general.”
Stilp said his filing would ask the Supreme Court to take up the suit using its King’s Bench authority over cases of immediate public consequence. He said the upcoming effective date of Kane’s law license suspension makes his request more urgent.
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