Appeal of Administrative Adjudication Failure to File Brief Dismissal
Ives v. City of Philadelphia, PICS Case No. 17-1083 (C.P. Philadelphia June 15, 2017) Anders, J. (4 pages).
The court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the appeal of an administrative adjudication where the appellant failed to comply with the court's scheduling order by not timely filing an appeal brief. The dismissal did not violate the appellant's constitutional right to due process.
The Bureau of Administrative Adjudication (BAA) for the City of Philadelphia found Edward Ives to be liable for a parking ticket. Ives filed a timely notice of appeal of BAA's decision. The court issued a scheduling order that required Ives to file a brief in support of his appeal by April 3, 2017. He failed to do so.
On April 7, 2017, the city filed a motion to quash the appeal because Ives failed to timely file a brief with the court. The court granted the city's motion on May 1, 2017, and entered an order dismissing the appeal for noncompliance with the scheduling order by not filing the required brief within the time allowed.
Ives appealed from the order of dismissal. As the moving party, the court noted that Ives had an affirmative duty to prosecute the appeal, including meeting all of the scheduling deadlines imposed by the court. The court did not abuse its discretion in dismissing the appeal.
The court did not violate Ives's constitutional rights in dismissing the appeal without a hearing because Pennsylvania law consistently held that the dismissal of a proceeding for a party's failure to prosecute an action or pursue an appeal without good cause did not violate due process.