Joan Orie Melvin Resigns from Supreme Court

Another chapter begins in what is already a family affair worthy of a reality TV series. Or at least a made-for-TV special. Today, Joan Orie Melvin resigned from her seat on the State Supreme Court. She was found guilty last month of illegally using her staff (as well as the staff of a previously convicted sister, ex-state senator Jane) to run her political campaigns in ’03 and ’09. Her sister Janine was also found guilty of the same crime. Temporarily suspended from the bench, the departure of the Republican Orie had evened up the makeup of the bench,  three Dems to three Republicans.

“It is with fervent hope that my service over the past three decades will not be tainted by the circumstances surrounding my departure,” she wrote in a letter of resignation to Tom Corbett.

A gal can dream. [Post-Gazette]