McCaffery ordered to turn in court-issued equipment

HARRISBURG - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday told Justice Seamus P. McCaffery to turn over computers and other court-issued equipment, and moved swiftly to cancel the Internet service it provides at McCaffery's Northeast Philadelphia home.

The order came a day after the justices voted to suspend McCaffery, citing allegations that he sent or received sexually explicit e-mails among other concerns.

Jim Koval, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania courts, said McCaffery and his staff had been asked to surrender all court equipment "posthaste" and that his home Internet account would be shut down this week.

"We are in the process of arranging that," Koval said.

McCaffery has argued that any questionable messages he may have sent amounted to personal correspondence among friends. The messages were sent from a private Comcast e-mail address.

Records show the state spent just shy of $7,500 for Comcast Business Internet service at his Bustleton home since he became a justice in 2008. The court also gave McCaffery a home computer, a laptop, an iPhone, an iPad, and other equipment - all raising the question of whether taxpayers footed any part of the bill when sexually explicit messages were sent.

It was not clear if McCaffery has a personal account for Internet service at his home. Through a spokesman, McCaffery has declined to comment.

The Inquirer has viewed at least 10 e-mails that McCaffery sent, containing sexually explicit content, in 2008 and 2009 to a small group of people, including an agent at the state Attorney General's Office. The agent, who has since retired, then forwarded the messages to dozens of others, including top prosecutors, in the office.

McCaffery sent the messages from a Comcast e-mail address, 1Fenian, which is now inactive. (Fenian is used to describe an advocate of Irish independence and reunification.)

Documents assembled by the courts at The Inquirer's request show that McCaffery was one of five justices with "home offices." Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille, his rival and most vocal critic, also is among them.

Castille, a Republican, had been advocating for McCaffery's suspension and has said he believes the matter of the justice's e-mails should be investigated by a special prosecutor.

In an interview Saturday, Castille said that the court's provision of equipment to McCaffery, a Democrat, raised questions about whether he used state resources to send explicit e-mails. The chief justice said the court did not "police" how its staff used computers and said he would not fault any justice who used the equipment for, say, communication with a relative.

But, he said, "You're not supposed to be using court resources to be sending pornography. It's as simple as that," he said.

The court also pays for home offices for Justices J. Michael Eakin, Max Baer, and Correale Stevens.

Koval said the court provides Internet service only at a justice's primary residence, not at vacation homes or other spots.

It is unclear how much the court has paid for McCaffery's home computer, laptop, two printers, iPad Air, and iPhone.

McCaffery became the second justice in less than three years to be suspended from the high court. In its order to suspend McCaffery, the justices tasked the Judicial Conduct Board to decide within 30 days whether formal misconduct charges are warranted. The board, which handles judicial ethics complaints, has launched an investigation into McCaffery's e-mails.

Castille last week released an accounting of more than 230 e-mails McCaffery sent or received between 2008 and 2012, including to at least one state employee, that contained graphic sexual images and videos. Those messages, sent from a private e-mail address, were among the messages sent or received by state employees and uncovered during Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane's review of how her predecessors handled the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse investigation.

McCaffery has accused Castille of acting out of a personal vendetta, and has said the chief justice is bent on destroying his career and reputation.

In suspending McCaffery, Castille likened him to a "sociopath," leading court reform advocates to question the rare display of personal animosity between top jurists.

"We are disappointed with the level of public discourse demonstrated by the Supreme Court," Lynn Marks, executive director of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, said Tuesday.

She added: "The Supreme Court has the duty to set the tone of public discourse throughout the judicial system."

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