Top Pa. Court Nixes Colleague Justice's Request for Halt of Campaign-Finance Case Trial
A high-profile criminal trial of a suspended member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on campaign-corruption charges appears likely to proceed later this month, following a Thursday ruling by Justice Joan Orie Melvin’s colleagues on the state’s top court bench rejecting her petition to stop the trial, reports the Associated Press.
The 56-year-old jurist is accused in the Allegheny County case of using government-paid members of her former state superior court staff to work on her campaign for a seat on the supreme court in 2003 and 2009. As an earlier Associated Press article explains, Melvin’s so-called king’s bench appeal to the supreme court argued that her prosecution violates the constitutional principle of separation of powers.
Earlier coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Pennsylvania Supreme Court Orders Ouster of Justice Melvin After Criminal Charges Are Filed”
