A former Pennsylvania Justice was ordered by the judicial ethics court to pay a fine of $50,000 after he was found guilty for breaking the rules of judicial behavior. Former Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin admitted to exchanging of lewd and racy emails within the state's law enforcement circles.
The decision of the ethics court comes after Eakin resigned. The former Pennsylvania Justice will still get his state pension amounting to $140,000 a year despite the case. According to KSL, the court was dismayed at Eakin's behavior, claiming that the former Pennsylvania Justice dramatically lessened public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the entire judiciary. His punishment could have been more intense if he didn't resign, according to the court.
According to the unanimous six-judge opinion, "The common thread of the emails, with their imagery of sexism, racism and bigotry, is arrogance and the belief that an individual is better than his or her peers. Such beliefs are antithetical to the privilege of holding public office, where the charge is to serve, not demean, our citizens."
The Court of Judicial Discipline ruled that Eakin is going to pay the fine over six months. The former Pennsylvania justice's lawyer, Bill Costopoulos, said the penalty is equal to his suspension without pay. Eakin is the latest public official dragged into the controversial email scandal that was discovered in 2014, Trib Live reports. He was found to be guilty of mocking battered African-American and Asian-American women.
"It has always been important to former Justice Michael Eakin to impress upon the Court of Judicial Discipline and the court of public opinion that, while he was on the bench for 20 years, every case he participated in was in accordance with the facts and the law," Costopoulos said, ABC News reported.
The judges have found that the former Pennsylvania Justice's behavior was not a criminal offense. They also noted that he had done his judicial work perfectly. Eakin promised not to join or to be appointed in the official office in the future. The examination on the email scandal is still ongoing.
