In the midst of a pornographic email scandal, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus P. McCaffery retired. That move came just a week after his colleagues issued an order suspending him from all judicial work and instructing the Judicial Conduct Board to begin an ethics violation investigation.

McCaffery was renowned for his climb to the top. He started at age 20 as a beat cop and later worked in homicide and major crimes. Frustrated by a “dysfunctional court system that let too many offenders off on technicalities,” McCaffery decided to obtain a law degree with the goal of becoming a judge.

“I don’t come from an Ivy League background; I don’t come from a big law firm,” he said in a 2007 interview. “I’m a guy who worked his way up through night school for 11 years, raised his kids, worked hard.”

In 1993, he won election to become a municipal court judge in Philadelphia. He gained fame when he launched “Eagles Court” to dispense game-day justice to unruly fans at old Veterans Stadium. In 2007, he was elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

The FBI became interested in referral fees his wife, Lise Rapaport, who worked at an $84,000-a-year job as McCaffery’s chief administrative assistant, received from law firms while working in his chambers. In March 2013, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported plaintiff law firms paid 19 such fees over the previous decade while McCaffery voted on cases involving those firms. In one case, the firm paid an $821,000 referral fee.

There was also an allegation that McCaffery made a $119.50 traffic ticket his wife received on May 14, 2010 disappear. While federal prosecutors decided to not bring criminal charges, his colleagues ordered the ethics investigations and state authorities are looking into whether state laws were violated.

More political pressure came from an investigation into the office of Attorney General archives to determine if the agency handled the Jerry Sandusky investigation properly. The investigation uncovered pornographic emails that resulted in the resignations of the state Secretary of Environmental Protection Christopher Arbruzzo and Board of Probation and Parole Member Randy Feathers.

It was uncovered that McCaffery was the source point for at least some of the emails, and he was connected to 234 emails containing pornographic material. With an investigation ensuing and a suspension from duties, McCaffery reached a deal that included his retirement and an agreement to not pursue or accept another judicial position. The agreement, announced October 27, 2014, ended the investigation and preserved McCaffery’s pension.

Sources: The Philadelphia Inquirer, www.pennlive.com, http://abcnews.go.com

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