Suspended Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin’s argument that political corruption charges against her, which implicate her management of judicial staff, violate the separation of powers doctrine should be taken seriously but is unlikely to sway the court, some legal observers have said.
Orie Melvin was charged with using her judicial staff and the legislative staff of her sister to work on Orie Melvin’s bids for the state Supreme Court in 2003 and 2009. She argued in an omnibus pretrial motion last week that charging her criminally for alleged violations of internal court procedures infringes on the judicial branch’s sole authority to supervise the courts.
