Seamus P. McCaffery
Seamus McCaffery was a justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.[1][2] He was first elected to the court as a Democrat in a partisan election in 2007.[2]
On October 20, 2014, McCaffery was suspended from the bench by a vote of four of his colleagues on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The suspension was a result of an investigation of several charges levied against McCaffery. One charge implicated McCaffery in the exchange of "hundreds" of pornographic emails. The justices who voted to suspend him described these emails in their order of suspension as "extremely disturbing."[1] The other charge involved the exchange of authorized cash payments to his wife of "hundreds of thousands of dollars" from personal injury legal firms for the referral of potential clients.[3]
McCaffery resigned from his seat on the court on October 27, 2014.[4]
Education
McCaffery received his undergraduate degree from LaSalle University in 1977 and his J.D. degree from the Temple University School of Law in 1989.[5]
Career
After leaving active military duty, McCaffery joined the Philadelphia Police Department, where he spent twenty years serving the citizenry of Philadelphia. He was elected judge of the Philadelphia Municipal Court in 1993. He became the court's administrative judge in 2001. Two years later, McCaffery was elected to the Pennsylvania Superior Court and served there until his election to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2007.[2]
Eagles Court
When he was a trial judge, McCaffery created the Nuisance Night Court to deal with unruly fans during the Philadelphia Eagles football home games.[6]
Awards and associations
Awards
- Man of the Year Award, American Legion
- Man of the Year, Catholic War Veterans
- Fellowship Award, Philadelphia Shomrim
- John Peter Zenger Distinguished Jurist Award
- Legion of Honor Bronze Medallion, Chapel of Four Chaplains
- Inductee, Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Hall of Fame
- Distinguished Pennsylvanian, Air Force Association
- Man of the Year, Retired Philadelphia Police & Firefighters
- Squadron Commander of the Year, Air Force Security Police
- Humanitarian Award, The Ancient Order of Hibernians
- Man of the Year, The Emerald Education Association [2]
Political ideology
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
McCaffery received a campaign finance score of -0.4, indicating a liberal ideological leaning. This was more liberal than the average score of -0.02 that justices received in Pennsylvania.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[7]
Noteworthy events
FBI investigation
In June 2013, the FBI investigated McCaffery and his involvement in referral fees his wife, Lise Rapaport (an aide in McCaffery's chambers), received from law firms specializing in personal injury cases. McCaffery's wife reportedly received 19 payments in total over a 16-year period, including an $821,000 referral fee in 2012 after a Philadelphia law firm successfully settled a multimillion-dollar medical-malpractice case.[8] According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, referral fees of this nature are legal in Pennsylvania, and those paying the fees to McCaffery's wife said they were "routine and proper."[8] Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Castille, however, stated he was troubled that a court aide would be collecting fees while "employed in a judicial chamber." He questioned whether McCaffery had violated the Ethics Act by giving Rapaport permission for her actions.[8]
Castille added:
| “ | Obviously, Lise Rapaport was working these cases out of Seamus' office, and whenever she received a referral fee, it's marital property. That would appear to be just - given those facts - a violation of the Ethics Act.[8][9] | ” |
In March 2014, McCaffery and Rapaport filed a summons demonstrating their intent to sue the Philadelphia Inquirer for libel and slander over their coverage of the investigation.[10] That defamation suit was withdrawn in October 2014.[11]
Sexually-explicit emails
In 2014, McCaffery's name emerged in an investigation stemming from Attorney General Kathleen Kane's review of a grand jury investigation into convicted child molester and former Penn State University football coach Jerry Sandusky. Sexually explicit emails containing sexual images and videos were allegedly forwarded from McCaffery's personal email account from 2008 to 2009.[12][13]
The emails were made public through the efforts of media outlets in Pennsylvania. Kane released only a portion of the emails found in the accounts of eight former employees of the Attorney General's Office. McCaffery had reportedly sent at least eight emails to a staff member in the office, who then forwarded the emails to a dozen more employees.[12]
McCaffery argued, in his defense, that the emails came from a personal, and now, inactive, Comcast account and not from any state email account. At issue, was whether or not the sending of sexually-explicit emails violated any rules concerning the use of state resources. Kane's office had stated that "it is not illegal for adults to send or receive pornography depicting adults."[14]
Chief Justice Ronald Castille raised concerns about the evidence of fraternization between McCaffery and attorneys that could potentially appear before him in court. Castille added: "The requirement is to be a neutral arbitrator of cases. You cannot be sending pornographic emails to another agency."[14]
October 2014 suspension
The four justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court who voted to suspend McCaffrey on October 20, 2014, were Ronald Castille, Thomas Saylor, Max Baer and Correale Stevens. J. Michael Eakin and McCaffrey himself abstained from voting on the matter. Debra Todd voted against the suspension.[15]
Castille reportedly led the charge against McCaffrey. Castille issued a strongly worded statement at the time of the suspension, writing, "In my two decades of experience on this court, no other justice...has done as much to bring the Supreme Court into disrepute. No other justice has failed to live up to the high ethical demands required of a justice of this court or has been the constant focus of ethical lapses to the degree of Justice McCaffery."[15]
A spokesperson for the suspended McCaffrey said,
| “ | Today's action against Justice McCaffery should surprise no one, given Chief Justice Castille's relentless crusade to destroy his career and reputation. We will continue in our efforts to expose the malicious intent behind this effort to take down Justice McCaffery. We are confident that he will be cleared of any wrongdoing and returned to the bench soon.[15][9] | ” |
Todd, the lone justice to vote against the suspension, said,
| “ | Today, based upon unvetted claims and allegations, a majority of our court, one of whom is deeply involved in this controversy, has suspended a fellow justice. No independent investigative body has made any findings regarding merits or credibility and...no formal criminal proceedings have been instituted. Every day this court is charged with according due process to litigants, and we faithfully carry out that constitutional obligation. Even a justice is entitled to due process.[15][9] | ” |
McCaffery was the second justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to have been suspended since 2012. Joan Orie Melvin was suspended in May 2012.[15]
See also
External links
- Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System, "Honorable Seamus P. McCaffery"
- Project Vote Smart, "Justice Seamus McCaffery (PA)"
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 In the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Western District, "In Re: Mr. Justice Seamus P. McCaffery of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Per Curiam Order," October 20, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Pennsylvania Unified Judicial System, "Honorable Seamus P. McCaffery," accessed October 30, 2014
- ↑ The Daily Mail, "Pennsylvania Supreme Court suspends 'sociopathic' judge over email pornography scandal: Justice Seamus McCaffery accused of sending explicit pictures", October 21, 2014; retrieved October 21, 2014
- ↑ PennLive.com, "Justice Seamus McCaffery resigns from Pa. Supreme Court in wake of state email investigation," October 27, 2014
- ↑ Project Vote Smart, "Justice Seamus McCaffery (PA)," accessed October 6, 2014
- ↑ The Pennsylvania Freemason, "Seamus P. McCaffery the Mason, Judge, Military Man, Police Officer, Husband and Father," accessed October 6, 2014
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Philly.com, "Exclusive: FBI probing Justice McCaffery over referral fees," June 12, 2013
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ News Works, "Pa. Supreme Court Justice sues Inquirer, others," March 5, 2014
- ↑ Philly.com, "McCaffery drops suit against Inquirer," October 22, 2014
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 The Morning Call, "Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery sent explicit emails," October 1, 2014
- ↑ ‘’The Morning Call’’, “1st Penn State Jerry Sandusky child-abuse grants issued,” December 9, 2015
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Philly Mag.com, "Report: Justice McCaffery Forwarded Racy Emails," October 2, 2014
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Philadelphia Inquirer, "Supreme Court suspends McCaffery over porn e-mails", October 21, 2014
