Carl Romanelli, who stepped into the national political spotlight last year when he attempted to run in a highly publicized U.S. Senate race, is blazing new legal trails, but the trip might still cost him $80,000.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court implicitly set legal precedent when it ruled on Tuesday in the lawsuit against Romanelli stemming from his senatorial bid, but it also sent a confusing message.

Romanelli is already considering petitioning the court for a clarification of the order “because it was incomplete in addressing the totality of this case.”

In challenging then-U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum for the seat eventually won by U.S. Sen. Bob Casey Jr., D-Scranton, Romanelli gathered roughly 90,000 signatures to get on the 2006 ballot as a Green Party candidate.

Suspecting the Wilkes-Barre political activist’s emergence might siphon away Democratic votes, Casey’s camp sued to keep him off the ballot. In January, Romanelli and his attorney, Larry Otter, were assessed more than $80,000 in court costs and legal fees to the state Democratic Party.

Romanelli appealed to the state Supreme Court. The court’s one-paragraph order claims to affirm, reverse and remand various parts of the Commonwealth Court’s decision, but it’s unclear what, if anything, is reversed. One portion was remanded for further explanation while the rest was affirmed “in all other respects.”Source Link