In this Jonathan Turley article, law professor Jonathan Turley argues that Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro faces both legal and political trouble over a property dispute with his neighbors.
- Turley says Shapiro is being sued by neighbors Jeremy and Simone Mock over a roughly 2,900-square-foot parcel between the properties that the Mocks say belongs to them.
- According to the article, the Mocks allege Shapiro used state police to keep them off the disputed land and then installed an eight-foot security fence there.
- The dispute escalated after the Mocks sued and Shapiro countersued, claiming the land is now his through adverse possession.
- Turley explains that under Pennsylvania law, adverse possession generally requires actual, continuous, visible, exclusive, hostile possession for 21 years.
- Shapiro’s side reportedly argues that from 2003 to 2025, his household maintained the land by mowing, clearing leaves, and treating it as their own.
- The Mocks, by contrast, argue they never abandoned the parcel, had paid taxes on it for years, and had repeatedly resisted efforts by Shapiro to buy it.
- Turley suggests the case is especially damaging politically because Shapiro is accused not just of a property dispute, but of using the power of his office and state troopers in the conflict.
- The article frames the legal merits as debatable, but says the optics are terrible for a governor seen as a possible national contender, particularly if voters conclude he tried to take a neighbor’s land without compensation.
Read the full story: https://jonathanturley.org/2026/03/15/the-adversity-of-josh-shapiro-pennsylvania-governor-claims-neighbors-property-to-build-fence/
