Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-33)
By any measure, a governor sending state police onto his neighbor’s property — without a court order — is a serious matter. But when that governor is also a former attorney general and licensed attorney, the stakes are even higher.
In the lawsuit Mock v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Jeremy and Simone Mock allege Gov. Josh Shapiro and his wife, Lori, commandeered a strip of their property after failed attempts to buy or lease it. According to the complaint, what began as a routine neighborly boundary conversation spiraled into a full-blown constitutional showdown.
The Mocks claim after negotiations stalled, the Shapiros asserted ownership of the land via “adverse possession,” a legal doctrine requiring decades of open, continuous use and, crucially, a court ruling. They had none. Instead, the complaint alleges, the Shapiros took physical control: planting trees, deploying drones and enlisting state police to patrol and block the rightful owners from using their own property.
If true, this is not merely a zoning squabble or neighborhood tiff. It’s an alleged abuse of state power, where the machinery of government is accused of being turned against private citizens — without process, without compensation and without legal justification.
The Mocks’ case is built on bedrock constitutional claims: violation of due process, unlawful seizure and taking of property without compensation — rights enshrined in the Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. They also allege common law trespass.
Let’s be clear: No one, not even a governor, is above the Constitution. Property rights are not optional. The right to be free from government seizure without due process is not a privilege granted by political office — it’s a protection guaranteed by law.
What this case ultimately demands is accountability — not just for the property at stake, but for the principle that no public official should be allowed to redefine legal boundaries without due process. In America, the law — not position or power — must remain the final authority.