The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will hear “In re Nomination Paper of Nader” on March 1 in Pittsburgh. The issue is whether Ralph Nader should be required to pay attorneys fees of approximately $80,000. In Pennsylvania, when a candidate petition is challenged, the issue of whether the petition is valid goes immediately to court. Nader submitted approximately 50,000 signatures in 2004, to meet a requirement of 25,697. The state court determined he didn’t have enough valid signatures. Now the people who challenged his petition are claiming that Nader, as the loser in a court case, should be required to pay attorneys fees for the challengers. Since the Nader 2004 petition was the first minor party or independent statewide petition that had been challenged since 1938, there is no clear precedent for this type of petition, on the matter of attorneys fees. The hearing is at 801 City-County Building in the morning; court starts at 9 a.m. and the Nader hearing is 5th.