McCaffery Sorry for Porn Emails, Rips Pa. Chief Justice

Castille (left) and McCaffery

In a statement released to reporters Thursday, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Seamus McCaffery apologized for sending hundreds of pornographic emails to employees of state government.

“I sincerely apologize for my lapse in judgment,” McCaffery wrote. “I erred and if I offended anyone, I am truly sorry.” Yes, he did the “if I offended anyone” thing, but directly apologized and said he erred. An actual apology!

McCaffery also took the time to take a more direct shot at Ron Castille, the chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Castille and McCaffery have been feuding for years.

In his statement, McCaffery called the porn emails a “cooked-up controversy” made by Castille. “Why is the Chief Justice fixated on hurling one accusation after another at me,” he wrote, “in an ongoing attempt to discredit me?”

He accuses the Chief Justice of lying in order to “get me” and accused the chief justice of presiding over the Supreme Court during “one of its most scandal-ridden periods since its inception in 1722.”

McCaffery’s full statement to the press follows.

“I served my country proudly in the United States Marine Corps. I served my city proudly as an Officer of the Philadelphia Police Department. Coarse language and crude jokes permeated both ranks. That’s not an excuse, just a fact. Unfortunately, personal, private emails between me and some longtime friends were never meant to be viewed by anyone else, but they were. I sincerely apologize for my lapse in judgment. I erred and if I offended anyone, I am truly sorry. I spent 20 years in the Philadelphia Police Department without incident. I served 10 years as a trial judge and four years on the Superior Court without incident. And I spent 40 years serving our nation, first as a United States Marine and then as a United States Air Force Reservist, retiring as a full colonel – 40 years without a blemish. Yet, since being elected to the Supreme Court in 2007, I have had to cope with one incident after another. Why?

“This latest cooked-up controversy over my personal emails is part of a vindictive pattern of attacks by the soon-to-be-retired Chief Justice, Ronald Castille. He is fixated on taking down a fellow justice with his misleading statements and incredible hypocrisy. Isn’t it time for the press to ask the real question? Why is the Chief Justice fixated on hurling one accusation after another at me, in an ongoing attempt to discredit me? We all know what is motivating this unwarranted and unprecedented attack. For those of us who remember the ‘Real Castille’, it is shocking to think that someone who has ‘led’ the Supreme Court during one of its most scandal-ridden periods since its inception in 1722 now wants to single out one justice and condemn him for a personal lapse in judgment. To date, I have stayed above the fray, not wanting to drag the Supreme Court through the mud like he’s been doing. But I can no longer sit by and allow these attacks to continue without comment.

“Ron Castille’s statement yesterday, issued on AOPC letterhead and purporting to represent the position of the entire Supreme Court, was a lie. In fact, members of the Supreme Court did not even know about the statement until they read the publication. And it is only the latest lie in the Chief Justice’s egomaniacal mission to ‘get me.’ His mission began when he reported me to the Federal Bureau of Investigation over my wife’s legitimate receipt of referral fees, and that didn’t work. He has done everything possible within our Court to undermine me with my colleagues, and that didn’t work. Now, with only two months left in the hourglass of his tenure on our Court, he is trying to finish what he has been trying to do for so many years. He has been on this mission because I had the guts to challenge him on the Family Court fiasco and on what the citizens of Pennsylvania got for the more than $3 million of First Judicial District funds that were funneled to one of his closest friends. And I had the guts to challenge him on his disastrous handling of Pennsylvania’s worst judicial scandal and a tragic injustice that will forever be known as the ‘Kids for Cash’ disaster.

“I am very proud of my record of public service to my city, my commonwealth, and our nation. Nevertheless, I want to reiterate my apology for my lapse in judgment with respect to the offensive emails, personal emails that were made public by the outgoing Chief Justice. It was wrong, and I am sorry.”