By Kevin Zwick
Staff Reporter
Capitolwire
HARRISBURG (Feb. 5) – The state Supreme Court ruled Friday it will not reinstate Attorney General Kathleen Kane’s law license, clearing a path for a potential Senate vote to remove her from office.
“In the coming days I will be speaking with the Majority and Minority Leaders in the Senate to determine the date on which the full Senate vote on the removal of the Attorney General will take place,” said Senate President Pro Tem Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson, in a statement Friday.
Kane in a court filing argued that Justice J. Michael Eakin’s participation “tainted” the high court’s unanimous September ruling to temporarily suspend her law license. Eakin has since been suspended from the court by a disciplinary tribunal over controversial private emails publicized by Kane.
But the six-member state Supreme Court, with three new Democratic members, reaffirmed the prior ruling on her law license.
“The attorney general is disappointed but not surprised by the court’s decision,” said Kane spokesman Chuck Ardo.
Kane said Eakin voted to suspend her license “knowing” it was Kane “who had discovered evidence of email traffic on servers in the Office of Attorney General.” The emails have been described as “pornographic, sexually explicit, misogynistic, ethically insensitive, racist or homophobic,” Kane said.
The Office of Disciplinary Counsel argued Kane’s claims of bias against Eakin should have been made in a timely manner. They said Eakin’s “possible bias was well-known” to Kane in October 2014, but she didn’t raise the issue until after the court’s September 2015 temporary suspension order.
The high court, in its unanimous per curium order Friday, agreed with ODC, stating that because Kane “did not seek recusal at the earliest possible time, her objection is waived as a matter of law and cannot form the basis to invalidate a judicial determination.” The court also said her claims of bias “are untimely and not properly before this Court for determination.”
Eakin, who is suspended with pay, did not participate in the ruling, the order states.
The Senate panel, which was examining Kane’s ability to perform the duties of office without a valid law license, recommended the full Senate should not hold a vote on the embattled Democrat’s removal from office until the state Supreme Court took action in her request to reinstate her law license.
Now that the court has ruled, Scarnati’s statement would suggest a vote is imminent.
“The Special Committee on Senate Address has done an excellent job providing each member of the Senate with all relevant information and testimony from its hearings and I strongly encourage all members to review the materials prior to a vote,” Scarnati said.
Kane believes the Senate’s attempt to remove her using a little-known constitutional clause is improper.
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