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Fall 1999
Volume 2, Issue 2
Brentwood Academy v. Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association
Mercer v. Duke University
Adidas America v. National Collegiate Athletic Association
Montalvo v. Radcliffe
Olinger v. United States Golf Association
Giordano v. Ridge
Giordano v. Ridge, 737 A.2d 350 (PA, Aug. 31, 1999)
PENNSYLVANIA COURT UPHOLDS THE CAPITAL FACILITIES DEBT ENABLING ACT
Giordano, a taxpayer in the state of Pennsylvania, brought suit alleging
that enactment of the Capital Facilities Debt Enabling Act violates Article VIII of the
Pennsylvania Constitution which does not allow the state to incur debt on behalf of the
state and/or by pledging credit of the Commonwealth to an individual, company,
corporation, or association." In response, the state argued that Giordano
failed to state a legal claim on which relief could be granted.
Chapter 5 of the Capital Facilities Debt Enabling Act is designated to
enable the funding of sports facilities. Giordano argued that this chapter is
unconstitutional because sports facilities do not benefit all taxpayers, and that it is
truly the sporting organizations themselves that benefit from the funding of such
facilities. Therefore, he alleged that the state is incurring debt on behalf of itself and
giving the money to a corporation in violation of the Pennsylvania constitution.
Construing the meaning of Article VIII, the court determined that the
state is allowed to conduct various financial transactions and the "terms
pledge or loan of credit are terms of art referring to these financing devices." In the
court's analysis, this language is clearly not intended to prohibit other
sorts of financial transactions between the state and private citizens or corporations.
The court concluded that the money flows from the Commonwealth to a municipality or
municipal authority and not directly to the private entity. Therefore, the court held that
taxpayer "ha[d] failed to state a claim of unconstitutional incursion
of debt or pledging of the credit of the Commonwealth" and upheld the
constitutionality of the challenged legislation.
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You Make the Call. . . Index
"You Make The Call..." is a newsletter published four times per year (spring,
summer, fall, winter) by the National Sports Law Institute of Marquette University Law
School, PO Box 1881, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53201-1881. (414) 288-5815, fax (414) 288-5818,
munsli@vms.csd.mu.edu. (www.marquette.edu/law/sports/call.html).
This publication is distributed via fax and email to individuals in the sports field upon
request.
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Editorial Staff:
Paul M. Anderson, Editor & Designer
Kirsten Hauser, Associate Editor
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Copyright © 1999 -- All rights reserved.
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