More questions after the latest porn email revelations
(Harrisburg) — A former prosecutor wants broader scrutiny of the porn email scandal that’s already led to the early retirement of one Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice.
Former U.S. Attorney Peter Vaira, who once brought the ABSCAM congressional corruption case, says prosecutors and judges shouldn’t have been passing porn for many reasons.
But speaking on WITF’s Smart Talk, Philadelphia’s former U.S. Attorney says he’s most concerned about cozy relationships.
“You have to have a good relationship with somebody to send them that. You wouldn’t just take a stranger and send it off and here judge, by the way here’s a dirty picture. So think about that relationship the next time the attorney appears before a judge. He’s got a familiarity and he doesn’t have to go too far,” says Vaira. “Here you have prosecutors who appear before them sending them private emails. Forget that they’re dirty pictures and so forth. They’re very confidential, which indicates that there’s a relationship that should not be.”
Vaira says the judicial canon explicitly bars judges from close relationships with lawyers, whether they’re prosecutors or on the defense side.
He notes if it does happen, judges should immediately either disclose it, or recuse themselves from the case.
Vaira adds a special prosecutor is needed to investigate just how deep the problem goes.
State Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffrey’s already retired after it was revealed he exchanged hundreds of porn emails.
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