Pennsylvania high court justice hit with ethics charges
In this Sept. 13, 2011, photo, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Michael Eakin poses for photographs with the court’s other justices at Philadelphia’s historic Old City Hall.
People walk by the Pennsylvania Judicial Center Tuesday at the state Capitol in Harrisburg.
HARRISBURG – A Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice says a new complaint accusing him of violating judicial and constitutional codes of conduct by exchanging lewd and offensive emails with friends “brings the opportunity for transparency” and he plans to continue to cooperate.
Justice Michael Eakin issued a statement Tuesday, shortly after the Judicial Conduct Board announced it had filed four charges against him with a disciplinary court that has the power to remove judges.
The 52-page document says at one point Eakin engaged in conduct so extreme it brought the judicial office into disrepute.
Eakin is a Republican and former Cumberland County district attorney on the high court since 2002. The investigation that resulted in the charges began after Attorney General Kathleen Kane submitted more than 1,000 of Eakin’s emails to the conduct board.