The porn email scandal in Pennsylvania has now claimed a second Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice. Justice Michael Eakin, who has been under suspension by the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board, has retired amid the scandal. Eakin was suspended back in December.
The Judicial Conduct Board, an ethics panel for judges, in a complaint last year said Eakin, 67, a Republican, “detracted from the dignity of the office.”
The 52-page complaint said messages Eakin sent or received included a video about busloads of “sluts” crashing in California, jokes about domestic violence and golfer Tiger Woods’ black and Asian background.
This is the second Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice to leave the bench over the porn email scandal that has engulfed Harrisburg. Former Justice Seamus McCaffery resigned back in 2014 due to receiving and sending pornographic, offensive, and racially charged emails.
The high Court will now operate with six justices. Democratic Governor Tom Wolf will be responsible for appointing a replacement and that appointment would have to be confirmed by the Republican Senate. Good luck with that, they can’t even pass a state budget from last year.
By way of background, current Attorney General Kathleen Kane launched an investigation shortly after the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal at Penn State, after promising in her electoral campaign to launch a review. In that review, the investigation uncovered a secret caches of pornographic emails. The investigation revealed that Attorney General employees were routinely sharing xxx-rated photos and videos and other types of adult humor. That ultimately led to the resignation of several high-ranking state officials.
After McCaffery threatened to make public emails that Eakin had received, Eakin self-reported and an investigation against Eakin was dropped. The Eakin case reappeared when AG Kane, who herself has been fighting against prosecutors claims against her, in which she has claimed the charges are “manufactured” as career-threatening perjury charges, led to a very public review of Eakin’s email traffic. Subsequently, Eakin was suspended.
With this past election, the PA Supreme Court just got back to a full compliment of justices.
