judicial corruption

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has adopted a new code of judicial conduct, including a rule against nepotism in judicial hiring decisions, The Legal Intelligencer's P.J. D'Annunzio reports. Abraham C. Reich of Fox Rothschild, co-chair of the PBA Task Force on the Code of Judicial Conduct, told The Legal "that the nepotism provision represented a cultural shift in the judiciary. 'I thought that was a very bold move by the court and one that I think is very positive,' Reich said. He added that the shift, via the anti-nepotism rule, is one that will have a positive impact on the way the public views the courts over time."

Joan Orie Melvin, a former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice convicted of using the resources of her judicial chambers on her political campaigns, is arguing that the charges against her should be dismissed or that she should get a new trial or sentence, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Orie Melvin's defense counsel said in their brief to the Pennsylvania Superior Court that the trial judge, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Lester G. Nauhaus, was biased, as demonstrated by expressing "'personal opinions and improperly commenting on the evidence in front of the jury,'" the Pittsburgh paper reports. 

Nauhaus crafted an unusual sentence for Orie Melvin, including ordering her to write apologies on a picture of herself in handcuffs to every judge in Pennsylvania.

Joan Orie Melvin, a former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice convicted of using the resources of her judicial chambers on her political campaigns, is arguing that the charges against her should be dismissed or that she should get a new trial or sentence, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. Orie Melvin's defense counsel said in their brief to the Pennsylvania Superior Court that the trial judge, Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Lester G. Nauhaus, was biased, as demonstrated by expressing "'personal opinions and improperly commenting on the evidence in front of the jury,'" the Pittsburgh paper reports. 

Nauhaus crafted an unusual sentence for Orie Melvin, including ordering her to write apologies on a picture of herself in handcuffs to every judge in Pennsylvania.

Another settlement has been reached in the class action brought by the kids imprisoned in juvenile detention facilities after two Pennsylvania judges were given cash by the facilities' owners, The Scranton Times Leader reports. "Three companies behind the private, for-profit juvenile detention and treatment facilities at the heart of the scandal that sent two former Luzerne County judges to jail have reached a settlement with numerous juveniles and parents, promising to put $2.5 million into an account to be disbursed for legal fees and to the families and individuals who are part of the class-action suit," The Times Leader also reports.

(My thanks to my husband, Jason Rearick, for flagging this development for me.)

The Wall Street Journal reports on the case of a judge who has plead guilty and agreed to cooperate in a case of judicial corruption: "A West Virginia judge pleaded guilty Wednesday to participating in a scheme to conceal alleged illegal drug use and election-law violations by a sheriff who was murdered earlier this year, amid a widening corruption probe in Mingo County. Michael Thornsbury, 57 years old, who had served as the county's sole circuit judge since 1997, admitted to promising a local businessman a lighter sentence on a drug charge if he hired a new attorney, with the goal of silencing his cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

A West Virginia judge has been charged by federal prosecutors  with allegedly conspiring with a prosecutor, county commissioner and now-deceased sheriff to stop a confidential informant from talking with the FBI information about his drug deals with the sheriff, according to WSAZ News Channel 3, which covers news in West Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky.

According to the news report: the informant was targeted by the sheriff after he tried to collect a $3,000 debt the sheriff owed the informant for making political signs. The sheriff arranged for an undercover informant to try to buy oxycodone from the sign-maker, and the sign-maker was indicted for possession of controlled substances with intent to deliver. But after the sign-maker was arrested he disclosed to the FBI that the sheriff had bought prescription narcotics from him several times. Then the judge, the sheriff and the others allegedly arranged to offer the sign-maker a favorable plea deal if he would fire his attorney, who was assisting the FBI, and replace him with a lawyer allegedly handpicked by the conspirators.

Five Philadelphia judges have had their financial records subpoenaed by federal prosecutors, including in connection to a convicted felon who was an active Democratic Party fundraiser and who won a lawsuit, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Sources told the Inqy they were unsure of the focus of the investigation beyond interest in cases being possibly fixed. Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus P. McCaffery also is the subject to a federal probe, The Legal Intelligencer reported a few weeks ago: http://m.americanlawyer.com/module/alm/app/tal.do#!/article/1106224228