Justice Eakin: Email inquiry should be heard in public
HARRISBURG - Confronting criticism that earlier reviews of his offensive emails were too lenient, Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin is urging that a new inquiry into his messages be handled directly by the court that will decide his punishment.
HARRISBURG - Confronting criticism that earlier reviews of his offensive emails were too lenient, Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin is urging that a new inquiry into his messages be handled directly by the court that will decide his punishment.
In a statement Thursday, Eakin said the investigation into whether his emails violated judicial ethics rules should be handled directly by the Court of Judicial Discipline, which holds all its proceedings in public.
The review was being handled by the Judicial Conduct Board, an agency that operates in secrecy. The board has been rocked by criticism that it glossed over offensive content in many of the emails Eakin sent or received on a private account, and that it failed to disclose conflicts of interest among those conducting the investigation.
Eakin, in his statement, called accusations about the board's integrity "unfortunate and wholly misguided." But he said he was requesting that it no longer handle the inquiry "to alleviate any mistrust" and "assure public confidence in the process."
The Court of Judicial Discipline, said Eakin, is not bound by secrecy and "will have the opportunity to express without hyperbole the reasoning behind whatever result the Court may reach."
It was not clear whether the board will now recuse itself from the matter.
The Judicial Conduct Board investigates complaints of judicial misconduct, then makes recommendations to the Court of Judicial Discipline, which decides punishment.
The board first reviewed Eakin's emails late last year, and cleared him of wrongdoing. The judicial panel launched a fresh inquiry last month, after Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane made public a troubling set of Eakin emails and lambasted the conduct board, suggesting it had given him a pass.
Last week, The Inquirer reported that one of the board's members had himself received offensive emails - many containing pornographic content - from another Supreme Court justice and other law enforcement officials.
Robert Graci, the board's lawyer, has declined/ to say whether the member, former Philadelphia police commander Eugene Dooley, now chief of police in East Whiteland township, Chester County, had recused himself from the vote to clear Eakin last year.
The Philadelphia Daily News reported that Graci, a former Superior Court judge who has been the board's counsel since 2012, had worked on Eakin's 2011 retention campaign and has been described as a "longtime Eakin friend."
Graci does not have a vote on the board, but he does oversee its staff attorneys and investigators.
He has said he will step aside from any further involvement in the renewed Eakin investigation.
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