Oct 15, 2013 3 min read

PITTSBURGH – A judge will wait until an appeals court rules on the unique punishment he gave to disgraced former state Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin before deciding whether she violated her house arrest by not sending autographed pictures of herself in handcuffs apologizing to other state judges.

Melvin’s attorneys have argued the apologies unfairly force Melvin to violate her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination while she appeals her campaign corruption conviction. The Superior Court last week ordered that part of Melvin’s sentence be delayed until it rules formally, which Allegheny County Judge Lester Nauhaus said he expects within the month. Nauhaus will hold another hearing Dec. 4.

County prosecutors argued Melvin has already apologized in court, so mailing more apologies shouldn’t violate her rights. They filed a motion asking Nauhaus to imprison Melvin for not sending the photos.

Despite not ruling, Nauhaus made it clear that he was angry with attorneys for Melvin, 57, and her sister and former aide, Janine Orie, 59, and accused them of “cherry-picking” – that is, complying with those parts of the sentences they like and ignoring those they don’t.

“It’s overwhelming, Mr. Casey, that you and your client think you can do it any way you want,” Nauhaus told Melvin’s attorney, Patrick Casey.

Melvin and Janine Orie were convicted of using Melvin’s state-paid court staff to work on Melvin’s campaigns for the Supreme Court in 2003 and 2009. Melvin, then a Superior Court judge, won a seat on her second try.

A third sister, former state Sen. Jane Orie was convicted and sentenced by a different judge last year to 2 ½ to 10 years in prison for using her state-paid staff on her own campaigns.

Nauhaus opted not to imprison Melvin and Janine Orie, despite the similarities to Jane Orie’s offenses – in fact, Melvin and Janine Orie were also convicted of having Jane Orie’s staffers work on Melvin’s campaigns. Instead, Nauhaus sentenced Janine Orie and Melvin to probation, during which Janine Orie must spend a year on house arrest and Melvin three years.

Nauhaus also ordered the sisters to work in a soup kitchen three times a week and ordered both to apologize to those the judge believes they harmed. Janine Orie was ordered to write simple apologies to co-workers she ordered to do the political work, while Melvin was ordered to send the autographed photos to hundreds of other state judges for disgracing the bench. At Melvin’s May sentencing, Nauhaus specifically imposed that part of the sentence because of Melvin’s “stunning arrogance” – a term Nauhaus repeated Tuesday.

The judge went onto explain that he wasn’t angry that the sisters’ attorneys appealed their sentences, but that they challenged only the apology portion which, Nauhaus believes, “they didn’t like.”

Melvin’s attorney declined comment after the hearing.

Janine Orie’s attorney, James DePasquale, said after the hearing there was “no disrespect intended to the court, and no intent to cherry-pick a sentence.”