Pennsylvania AG remains at work despite suspended law license
Kathleen Kane’s booking photo. Photo from the Montgomery County District Attorney.
Pennsylvania’s attorney general came to work Thursday, even though she no longer has an active law license. The suspension of her license took effect at midnight, and was imposed a month ago by the state supreme court.
But embattled AG Kathleen Kane apparently has no plan to step down, telling reporters through a spokesman at a Wednesday afternoon press conference that almost all of her job duties are administrative and policy-making and hence do not require a law license, according to the Citizens’ Voice and the Allentown Morning Call.
“She believes it will have very little impact,” said spokesman Chuck Ardo of Kane’s expectations concerning the effect of her suspended law license on her job. “Ninety-eight percent of her duties are administrative.”
Elected to her office in 2012 as a Democrat, Kane has not yet completed a memo outlining how she sees her work role, now that her license is suspended. It isn’t entirely clear from news coverage what she believes she can and cannot do.
The Morning Call says Kane believes she can sign any criminal or civil court document, so long as it is not a search warrant or wiretap authorization, and that her conduct does not violate legal ethics rules for suspended lawyers. The Citizens’ Voice adds subpoenas to the list of documents she cannot sign. And, of course, she cannot file court documents or appear in court as an attorney with a suspended license.
Under state law, the AG’s first deputy takes charge if he or she is incapacitated or leaves office. However, Kane, who chose not to appeal the supreme court order suspending her law license, has not given up her job.
Hence, it is uncertain whether the 1980 Commonwealth Attorneys Act (PDF) would require the first deputy to take charge of duties she cannot now perform.
Ardo said Kane will, as the Citizens’ Voice puts it, “go through the office’s existing chain of command,” starting with the first deputy, to deal with duties requiring an active law license.
Ardo held the news conference Wednesday after Kane met with top aides, in a session which he himself attended, the Morning Call reports. Not all of those present agreed with Kane’s interpretation of the scope of work duties she can continue to perform without an active law license, he said.
“I can’t tell you exactly who disagreed with her,” Ardo said. “I can tell you there was a conversation among participants that indicated several of the senior lawyers had a different view.”
The 49-year-old Kane is criminally charged in two linked cases for claimed perjury during her own grand jury testimony. It concerned an investigation of how the Philadelphia Daily News had gotten hold of confidential grand jury information concerning a politically sensitive matter.
Kane maintains her innocence and says the charges resulted from efforts by men who sent or received pornographic email on government computers to discredit her and prevent their disclosure.
A current state supreme court judge apologized earlier this month for emails that could be considered sexually explicit or racially offensive found on a private email account. However, Justice J. Michael Eakin, a Republican, said they had nothing to do with the court’s work and do not reflect his personal views, the Allentown Morning Call reported at the time.
He also said he had never asked for or opened the emails, which went to an account for “John Smith,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Kane released more emails said to be from Eakin’s account this week.
Another justice, Democrat Seamus McCaffery, retired from the supreme court last year following a scandal over his personal emails.
Related coverage
ABAJournal.com: “Embattled Pennsylvania AG Kathleen Kane suspended from practicing law”
Allentown Morning Call: “Kathleen Kane makes public emails found in state Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin’s private email account”
PennLive.com: “Attorney General Kathleen Kane tells Pennsylvania Supreme Court she is going public with Eakin emails”
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Latest fallout in AG’s ‘porngate’ probe: State supreme court judge sent or received over 200 emails”
ABAJournal.com: “Pennsylvania Supreme Court suspends its own Justice McCaffery, asks for ethics investigation”
