{"id":2249,"date":"2026-07-08T20:45:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T20:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2249"},"modified":"2026-07-08T20:45:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T20:45:26","slug":"gov-shapiro-cant-be-sued-by-his-abington-neighbors-over-a-property-dispute-judge-rules-but-josh-shapiro-a-homeowner-can","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2249","title":{"rendered":"Gov. Shapiro can\u2019t be sued by his Abington neighbors over a property dispute, judge rules. But Josh Shapiro, a homeowner, can."},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div><audio><\/audio><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A federal judge had some good news this week for Josh Shapiro, governor of Pennsylvania, but not so much for Josh Shapiro, resident of Montgomery County.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2247\">Justin Verlander plans to retire after this season, will be honored at All-Star Game in Philly<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Shapiro, as governor, can\u2019t be sued in his official capacity in a dispute over a strip of yard between his and his Abington Township neighbors\u2019 adjoining properties, U.S District Judge Harvey Bartle III ruled Tuesday. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>But, Shapiro and his wife, Lori, will still have to face their neighbors in federal court as homeowners, Bartle also determined.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The conflict came into public view in February, when Jeremy and Simone Mock, whose backyard abuts the Shapiros\u2019 lawn in a tree-lined neighborhood near Penn State Abington\u2019s campus, sued Shapiro \u2014 both as governor and in his individual capacity \u2014 and Pennsylvania State Police Acting Commissioner George Bivens. The lawsuit alleged the officials were illegally occupying part of the Mocks\u2019 yard to build an eight-foot security fence last summer in what they claimed was an \u201coutrageous abuse of power\u201d that violated their constitutional rights. Bartle dismissed those claims in his ruling Tuesday, in what Shapiro\u2019s administration called a major win.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>But while Shapiro and Bivens are immune from the federal lawsuit as state officials, Shapiro as an individual and his wife are not, .<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe are pleased that the court has dismissed the claims against the office of the governor and the Pennsylvania state police, and recognize that the allegations against these officials are without merit,\u201d said Rosie Lapowsky, a spokesperson for Shapiro. \u201cThe Shapiros are confident that the facts will ultimately show that the Mocks\u2019 remaining claims are meritless and politically motivated and will fail.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The dispute in federal court over the 2,900-square-foot strip of land disrupted the otherwise sleepy suburb and led to a separate lawsuit in the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas filed by the Shapiros, against the Mock family, in their personal capacities. Shapiro\u2019s office has called the Mocks\u2019 legal effort a political stunt, in addition to other efforts by Republican officials to scrutinize the safety measures state police say are needed to keep Shapiro and his family safe.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The dueling lawsuits came in the wake of the attempted murder of Shapiro in April 2025 at the state-owned governor\u2019s residence in Harrisburg, when a man firebombed the mansion on the first night of Passover while Shapiro and his extended family slept inside. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The attack prompted more than $33 million in security upgrades to the state-owned governor\u2019s residence, in addition to $1 million in upgrades and landscaping to Shapiro\u2019s personal home in Abington Township, where he and his family live part-time.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>But the Mocks\u2019 attorney, Wally Zimolong, said the lawsuit at hand is about property rights and due process, and called Bartle\u2019s ruling a \u201cstrong decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cMake no mistake about it,\u201d Zimolong said, \u201ca federal court has said that the sitting governor of Pennsylvania can be held liable for damages over constitutional violations.\u201d <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The Delaware County lawyer who has represented high-profile Republican officials and candidates, including President Donald Trump, said its \u201cnonsense\u201d to call the litigation political. Ziomolong added that he hopes the Shapiros reconsider and attempt to resolve the case amicably. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2245\">How do the Sixers stack up as a LeBron James destination? Breaking down his reported top 3 contenders.<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<h3>The conflict\u2019s origins<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The dispute between the Shapiros and Mocks began last summer when, as part of a plan to build a security fence at the Abington house, a surveyor learned that a sliver of yard that the Shapiros had used for over two decades was actually on property belonging to the Mocks.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>After the Mocks rejected the Shapiros\u2019 offer to buy the land, court fillings said Pennsylvania\u2019s first couple invoked a state law that allows a person to gain ownership of a property they\u2019ve actively used for at least 21 years. The Shapiros have lived in their Montgomery County home for 23 years.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cWhat followed was an outrageous abuse of power by the sitting Governor of Pennsylvania and its former Attorney General,\u201d the Mocks\u2019February lawsuit said.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>A security fence was purchased but never installed, SpotlightPA reported. Instead, contractors hired by the state began planting arborvitae-type trees and other plants on the Mocks\u2019 property. State police also flew drones over the Mocks\u2019 property, threatened to remove healthy trees, and chased away contractors, the Mocks alleged in the suit.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The complaint also accused Shapiro of directing state police to patrol the property, and instructing the Mocks to leave the \u201csecurity zone.\u201d <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The Shapiros\u2019 countersuit in Montgomery County asks a judge to find that they are the \u201clegal and equitable owners\u201d of the area in dispute, having tended to the land that borders their front yard for 23 years. That suit is pending and a judge is expected to rule on preliminary objections filed by Zimolong. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Separately, the Shapiros and state attorneys filed motions asking Bartle to dismiss the federal complaint against them. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>This week, judge partially obliged, finding the stateofficials to be immune from the lawsuit while allowing the case against the Shapiros to proceed. <\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>The judge also refused to freeze the federal case while the lawsuit in Montgomery County plays out, determining that the two cases are different enough to proceed.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe claims here extend far beyond a disagreement between neighbors over the metes and boundaries of their properties,\u201d Bartle wrote. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2243\">N.J. funds schools to build pipeline of air traffic controllers amid ongoing shortage<\/a><\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Philadelphia federal judge dismissed claims against Gov. Josh Shapiro  in his official capacity, but allowed his Abington neighbors to pursue their federal lawsuit against Shapiro as an individual.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pennsylvania","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gov. Shapiro can\u2019t be sued by his Abington neighbors over a property dispute, judge rules. But Josh Shapiro, a homeowner, can. - Corporate Movers USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/corporate-movers-usa.com\/?p=2249\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gov. Shapiro can\u2019t be sued by his Abington neighbors over a property dispute, judge rules. But Josh Shapiro, a homeowner, can. - Corporate Movers USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Philadelphia federal judge dismissed claims against Gov. 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