Anthony Williams calls for resignation of justice over emails
A high-ranking state senator is calling for the resignation of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice who is under investigation for having offensive e-mails in a private account.
Sen. Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia, the Senate Democratic whip, said there should be no room on the bench for Justice Michael Eakin, who apologized for “any insensitive content” earlier this month.
The Senate Democratic caucus is not taking a position on Eakin’s next steps, but Williams said he’s not willing to stay mum about messages that reportedly contain racial and misogynistic humor.
“I waited for about a week to hear the ‘timber’ moment, where people would be appropriately outraged and driving him from the court,” said Williams. “And I frankly don’t think we’ve had one.”
The emails contain a series of offensive and stereotypical jokes. The messages were flagged by state Attorney General Kathleen Kane, and described in more detail in a previous NewsWorks report.
The Supreme Court and a judicial panel both dispute whether they had access to the emails during reviews conducted last year.
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