Inquirer editorial: Judgment day for Pa. judges?

Municipal Court Judge Dawn Segal probably didn't suspect the FBI was listening when another judge asked her to fix a case or when she told him, according to recently filed legal documents, "I took care of it." Why would she expect anyone in authority to monitor judges' conduct? In Pennsylvania, lax enforcement of judicial ethical standards has been the norm, and it has fostered a system pervaded by casual corruption, from rampant ticket-fixing by traffic judges to bigoted and pornographic emails traded by justices of the state's highest court.

Segal is a supporting player in the Justice Department's investigation of the municipal judge who was on the other end of the line, Joseph C. Waters, who pleaded guilty to fixing cases in 2014. Asked during his sentencing the following year why he had trashed a once-promising career, Waters replied, "It was just stupid."

His behavior and that of other corrupt judges isn't just stupid, though. It is destructive, undermining the public's trust in a judicial system that continues to have difficulty policing itself.

The judiciary's ethics enforcement arm has too often seemed more concerned about protecting judges than disciplining them. After prematurely exonerating state Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin in the scandal over profane emails, the Judicial Conduct Board, which is supposed to prosecute wayward judges, continued its efforts to spare him a trial. In March, the Court of Judicial Discipline allowed him to retire and keep his $153,000-a-year pension.

Disciplinary officials have an opportunity to set higher standards in the Municipal Court scandal. They have plenty to work with.

Waters also asked Municipal Judge Joseph J. O'Neill to treat a political fund-raiser favorably. O'Neill, who allegedly told investigators that if someone had asked him to fix a case he would have punched him in the face, has been charged with criminal and ethical violations. Segal and another jurist implicated in the case, Common Pleas Court Judge Angeles Roca, haven't been charged with crimes but were suspended after ethics charges were filed by the Judicial Conduct Board. The Court of Judicial Discipline's rulings on their cases will therefore determine whether they continue to sit in judgment of their fellow Philadelphians.

Philadelphia voters formally abolished Traffic Court last week thanks to investigations by the FBI and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Castille, as well as an appropriate response by the state legislature. Without people in power forcing such reforms, they simply won't happen.

Three new justices - David Wecht, Christine Donohue, and Kevin Dougherty - were elected to the Supreme Court last fall promising reform. They should ensure that the weaknesses evident in the system's response to Eakin are addressed so that it deals effectively with the case-fixing scandal and any that come after it. A continued failure to enforce judicial ethical standards would be not just stupid but irresponsible.