It keeps getting worse for PA Supreme Court Justice Michael Eakin.
The Judicial Conduct Board announced on Tuesday that they were filing misconduct charges against Justice Eakin.
This investigation was instigated after Attorney General Kathleen Kane revealed that Eakin had sent and received a large number of inappropriate and offensive emails. Eakin was cleared of this charge last year after allegations from ex-Justice Seamus McCaffery, but the case was re-opened after Kane’s comments.
In their 52-page ruling, the Board charged Eakin with three counts. The first stated that he “failed to conduct himself in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the Judiciary.”
The second charge asserted that Eakin had “acted in a manner that detracted from the dignity of his office.” The third and final charge concerned an overall ethical violation.
The judge will now likely face trial before the Court of Judicial Discipline.
According to Craig R. McCoy and Angela Couloumbis of the Inquirer, Eakin is looking forward to a public hearing.
“As such, I welcome it,” he said.
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22 Responses
Real Ha3 — Good question.
What’s good for the goose, is good for the perverts, right?
And I also agree that Steele is corrupt if he prosecutes Kane for one alleged leak while ignoring the criminal leaks of Fina & The Corbett Pervs.
Selective enforcement is a form of corruption. You can look it up!!
So – When is PA’s Disciplinary Board going to ac to suspend Frank Fina’s law license? His conduct is beyond the pale. The racism and sexism is apparent in his e-mails. Why Kane and not Fina?
Oh – and when does the Grand Jury get sworn in to investigate the MANY LEAKS by Fina & The Corbett Pervs? After all – Kane is being criminally prosecuted for ONE alleged leak.
Are there two sets of rules?
Hey Pat Unger, what did Fina put you in prison for? Do you still have to register with the police?
More bad news for Eakin today. Inquirer Editorial Board calls for him to resign:
“The Pennsylvania judiciary’s slumbering watchdog has stirred. The Judicial Conduct Board has at long last charged J. Michael Eakin – spousal abuse humorist, self-proclaimed “titty deficit” hawk, and state Supreme Court justice – with tarnishing his office by sending and receiving prejudiced and profane emails.
Despite his documented and strenuous efforts to avoid the consequences, the justice now claims to welcome his pending trial by the Court of Judicial Discipline. The people of Pennsylvania can welcome it more sincerely. They have been deprived of objective and transparent enforcement of ethical standards for too long, particularly in matters involving their supremely troubled high court and the offensive emails traded among scores of judges and attorneys.
What’s already known about Eakin’s emails is enough to conclude that he has no business on any court, let alone the commonwealth’s highest. While the honorable course would be to resign, Eakin’s communications do not create an expectation of honor. Given the serious doubts they raise about his impartiality and dignity, however, he should at least refrain from participating in the high court’s deliberations and opinions until the case is resolved.
In addition to receiving numerous emails laden with pornographic, misogynist, racist, and homophobic content – with not a hint so far that he ever objected to any of them – Eakin relayed a “joke” about a battered woman, vowed to close his “titty deficit” by patronizing South Carolina strip clubs with fellow officers of the court, and nauseatingly imagined dragooning his female aides into sharing rooms with them.
A thorough investigation of Eakin’s emails has been thwarted by the justice himself, who omitted most of them from a supposed “self-report” and then tried to skew the disciplinary proceedings in his favor; by embattled Attorney General Kathleen Kane, who discovered the emails but has hoarded many of them for ammunition against her enemies and distraction from her own transgressions; and by the Judicial Conduct Board, which ignored glaring conflicts of interest while engineering Eakin’s premature exoneration last year.
Having excused its chief counsel, an Eakin associate, and two of its members from the proceedings, the board this week rightly noted that the justice’s emails are incompatible with the dignity and impartiality expected of a judge. Indeed, the author of any such works would be deemed unfit to run a Radio Shack, much less an entire branch of state government.”
Good question, gulag, Has Eakin resigned yet?
When does Graci get his long overdue ethics charges?
Pat unger, fina put you in prison didn’T He? By the way he is still laughing at you. I bet your ahole is still sore from BUBBA. Maybe you can introduce Cocko Reese to BUBBA.
Leave Kane alone she is Cleaning out the Supreme Court and Seth Williams and Many other Corrupt People in The Justice and Law Enforcement Worlds of Pennsylvania
More bad news for Frank Fina:
http://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/12/09/frank-fina-quit-resign/
Meanwhile, the Daily News continues to do yeoman work in exposing Freakie FRankie’s widespread misconduct in numerous cases, including the building collapse grand jury:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20151209_Fina_under_fire_in_2013_building-collapse_case.html
The white building owner and the white demo supervisor got off scot-free, while two black men way down on the economic food chain faced felony charges. Fina is despicable.
As opposed to “HaHaHa,” who posts under several screen names and never has anything of substance to say. When he posts as “Pat Unger” he simply copies and pastes his comments from other stories over and over.
DD – Remember that “Larry” is the pathetic troll. DO NOT FEED THE TROLLS
Diano, what testimony was a lie? “Official oppression” is a charge that I would fully expect against Fina, but I’m not aware of any facts that would fit the charge right now.
Larry
Maybe they’ll get Fina on perjury. Or maybe official misconduct.
It’s over for Eakin. He is just still in denial – like Fina & Costanzo. Today’s Daily News Editorial:
WHEN YOU nearly succeed in making retired-in-disgrace Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery look like a boy scout, it’s time to step down.
With the fumes surrounding Michael Eakin’s email porn scandal growing increasingly loathsome, this justice’s insistence that he will not resign despite calls from the governor, among others, is a sure sign that he is unqualified and ill-equipped to serve on the highest court in the state.
Speaking for his client, Eakin’s attorney told the Inquirer that the judge is not going to resign.
He said “that is not in our package.”
We don’t know what kind of package he’s referring to, but we’re sure it’s in plain brown wrapping, and it’s one we have no interest in opening. Not given the track record of hateful, vulgar, racist, misogynistic images that Eakin has sent and received using state servers with an alias of “John Smith.”
We’ve seen many of these images. They are disgusting.
They are so disgusting, in fact, that yesterday, the Judicial Conduct Board filed misconduct charges against Eakin for engaging in conduct “so extreme that it brought the judicial office into disrepute.”
Can Eakin really believe that the kind of images, jokes and other messages he sent are normal workplace communications? Does he think the kind of ignorance and hostility his messages display are OK? That the mind-set these messages suggest doesn’t make it highly doubtful he should be in a position to judge others fairly?
Eakin is not the first sign of a troubled court system. Scandals, even jail terms, have become common – in part because in Pennsylvania, judges are not appointed because of their abilities or character, but elected based on how much money they can raise and how effective their campaigns are . . . or worse, their position on a ballot.
But maybe the Eakin case is the tipping point we need to change the system – especially since he continues to suggest there could be a palatable explanation for his actions and behavior.
Following yesterday’s misconduct charge, he will make that case in public before a disciplinary tribunal. Sign us up for tickets to that one.
This is not a case of “innocent until proven guilty,” unless of course his computer was hacked. But even he has not made that claim. This is a case of a judicial body that must adhere to the highest standards of character and behavior.
Another set of emails revealed over the weekend details Eakin’s plans to visit a Myrtle Beach strip club with a colleague. In these, he revealed his standard for sterling behavior: that a discreet judge “has to go out of state to see boobs.”
And that’s even before he attempted to stack the deck in his favor by participating in a vote to appoint a member to the judicial court that would be reviewing his case, as reported by the Inquirer. The implication was that the new member would rule in his favor. Later, Chief Justice Saylor withdrew the name of the candidate.
Michael Eakin – we have a hard time calling him “Supreme Court Justice” – occupies a high bench. But almost every day, revelations reveal behavior that gets lower and lower. This is a dirty mess that sullies the court and the very concept of justice.
H3, I’m pretty sure Kane is getting “exposed, disgraced, humiliated, and investigated” more than anyone else in Pennsylvania politics right now. And they’re all still standing, except for a parade of Democrats (Justice Shameless, McCord, Senator Washington, a handful of cash-pocketing state reps, the mayor of Allentown, etc.).
Since you say Fina is going to jail, it sounds like you are finally ready to answer the question: what crime did he commit? You have failed to answer that question for weeks, but it sounds like you might finally have an answer. We’ll wait. Go ahead.
I remember when the FOXtards were calling these e-mails “sophomoric” and “typical office e-mails” … LOL …. The following from today’s paper:
Some of the messages they exchanged contained pictures and videos depicting topless women, as well as full frontal nudity. One contained a graphic depiction of a man having sex with an obese woman, set to the theme from Mission: Impossible.
Others contained supposed jokes mocking gays, lesbians, feminists, and, in one instance, nuns.
Several messages the board inspected lampooned African Americans. Among them depicted robots serving as golf caddies and were painted black. The caption read: “Four of ’em didn’t show for work, two filed for welfare, one of them robbed the pro shop, and the other thinks he’s the President.”
As The Inquirer reported Saturday, Eakin exchanged a series of emails with a prosecutor that discussed their plans to visit strip clubs during an out-of-state golf trip. Eakin also made racy comments about two of his female subordinates, joked with the prosecutor about inviting the women on the golf trip, and discussed sleeping arrangements.
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/20151209_Judicial_misconduct_charges_filed_against_Eakin_in_porn_email_scandal.html#ItLS82UfxM6po2uD.99
More bad news for Fina and Williams. There is now at least one Philadelphia case where Fina did the same thing that he did at the AGs Office — target only Black people. Why is he still getting paid with my tax dollars again??
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20151209_Fina_under_fire_in_2013_building-collapse_case.html#disqus_thread
Where is the outcry over Kane failing to comply with the Judicial Conduct Board’s subpoenas in 2014 for these emails? She only turned over 48 emails last year to the JCB, which is why they never filed a complaint. Then, in October 2015, after Eakin votes to suspend her law license, Kane suddenly finds another 900 emails? If Kane had complied with the subpoena last year as she was required to do, the Court of Judicial Discipline would have likely already heard the Eakin case by now. See page 21 of the complaint.
Here we are … it’s almost 2016 … and AG Kane is still standing.
Amazing. Truly amazing.
Meanwhile – just about everyone in the CLOWN CAR is getting exposed, disgraced, humiliated, and investigated. Fina is going to jail. A non-rigged panel just CRUSHED Eakin. Castille is no longer an “AG candidate.”
And then there is Seth Williams. His career was going VERY WELL before he got greedy and decided to take on AG Kane. He got stupid. He took on Fina and his racist “sting” case. He begged defendants to take deals because he was scared to go to Court.
Now – he is hiring the likes of Kathleen Martin as “Chief of Staff.” He has more “No comments” than any public official I have ever seen. The Black Clergy has turned against him. The legal community laughs at him. And he has alienated just about every minority group in the City … not to mention women. His world has fallen apart. All because he got into bed with Fina and refused to let go of his Kane hate.
Wonder if Kevin Steele is paying attention.
As I said on the other article – I really hope that Eakin DOES NOT resign. I want there to be a trial where he can be questioned about his relationship with Castille, his attempts to rig the result of his “case” and a whole laundry list of other things.
AG Kane is single-handedly reshaping the PA Supreme Court. She has castrated Fina & Costanzo. And – she is continuing to expose corrupt, perverse, vile racists. And cowardly women-haters too.
That shouldn’t affect her being held accountable if she committed a crime. But she DOES deserve credit for that.
Has Eakin resigned yet?