In appeal, a panel of Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court judges ruled
7-0 to send the lawsuit back to lower court for reexamination,
stating that City Hall does not have "…'free reign' to act
as it pleases in defiance of the law."
PITTSBURGH, April 20,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on Friday
overturned the dismissal of a lawsuit that was filed to block the
planned removal of Pittsburgh's
Columbus statue, writing in a 24-page opinion that a lower
court "erred" in its dismissal of the case in 2022.
Philadelphia litigator
George Bochetto filed the lawsuit,
and subsequent appeal, on behalf of the Italian Sons and Daughters
of America (ISDA), a not-for-profit cultural and fraternal
organization that was founded in Pittsburgh in 1930; ISDA is a member of the
Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American Organizations
(COPOMIAO).
"I am delighted the Commonwealth Court agreed that the dismissal
of this lawsuit by the lower court was plain error and that, while
the mayor of Pittsburgh has
certain First Amendment rights, he does not have free reign to
violate the law," said Bochetto. "I am also hopeful that the new
mayor will sit down with me to reach a resolution without further
costly litigation and a waste of taxpayers' money."
The reinstated case will now go back before Judge John T. McVay, Jr. of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas "for
further factfinding and decision," per the opinion.
"The bronze Columbus statue in Schenley Park, casted in 1958
after years of meager donations from poor Italian immigrants,
symbolizes the contributions and sacrifices of not only Italian
immigrants, but of all immigrants, to the growth and success of the
city of Pittsburgh. This history
has the same right to be preserved and celebrated as does the
history of all other groups," said Basil M.
Russo, who is president of both ISDA and COPOMIAO.
In December 2022, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court — in a
separate lawsuit — sided with Bochetto when it blocked Philadelphia's former mayor from uprooting the
city's 148-year-old Columbus statue from a public plaza. The
outcome of that case weighed heavily in yesterday's Pittsburgh ruling (see pages 17 – 19).
Columbus' History
In 1892, U.S. President Benjamin
Harrison organized the first national Columbus Day parade in New York City to ease a diplomatic crisis
between the U.S. and Italy, which
surfaced a year prior when the largest lynch mob ever to assemble
on American soil murdered 11 innocent Italian immigrants in
the streets of New Orleans.
Given the massive success of President Harrison's NYC parade
(attended by more than one million people), Italian Americans built
Columbus statues across the U.S. through the 1900s to help fuel
their assimilation. Pittsburgh's
Columbus statue was constructed to pay tribute to this history.
Today, the holiday honors Italian American pride and heritage.
Over the past two years, Basil
Russo and his Italian American peers have worked directly
with White House officials to develop Columbus Day proclamations that explore the
history behind the holiday.
See the 2022 and 2023 Columbus Day
Proclamations for further context.
About COPOMIAO
Formed in 1975 and based in NYC, the Conference of Presidents of
Major Italian American Organizations (COPOMIAO) is a collective of
63 of the most influential, cultural, educational, fraternal and
anti-defamation groups in the nation. https://copomiao.org
Contact
George Bochetto, Esq.
gbochetto@bochettoandlentz.com
Basil M. Russo
basil@orderISDA.org
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SOURCE The Conference of Presidents of Major Italian American
Organizations