Court Suspends Kathleen Kane’s Law License

Activist: "Her effective days as Pennsylvania's attorney general are over."

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane departs after her preliminary hearing Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, at the Montgomery County courthouse in Norristown, Pa.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane departs after her preliminary hearing Monday, Aug. 24, 2015, at the Montgomery County courthouse in Norristown, Pa.

[Update 3:55 p.m.] Kane’s office has just released another statement:

I am disappointed by the action taken by the Supreme Court today. It is important to note that the order specifically states that “this order should not be construed as removing Respondent from elected office.” I continue to maintain my innocence and plan to keep fighting to clear my name while serving out the rest of my term in office. I am confident the hundreds of employees of the Office of Attorney General will continue protecting the people of Pennsylvania with the same high level of energy, dedication and professionalism they have always displayed.

To this end, in the wake of the Commonwealth Court hearing, I’ve instructed my office to engage in a comprehensive review of all emails sitting on OAG servers to fully comply with the RTKLs. Our preliminary review has generated emails of government officials, including law enforcement officials and judges, heretofore unknown to us. These emails will be fully released either as public documents defined by the Commonwealth Court, or at my discretion.

[Update 2:17 p.m.] Kane’s office has released this statement:

While I am disappointed in the court’s action I am grateful that the court recognized my constitutional rights both as a democratically elected official and as a citizen of the Commonwealth. The court, in specifically recognizing my continuing authority as Attorney General of the Commonwealth, today allows me to continue the good works of this office: work which has transformed our war on sex crimes and fraud; work which will also root out the culture of misogyny and racially/religiously offensive behavior that has permeated law enforcement and members of the judiciary in this Commonwealth for years.

[Original 1:09 p.m.] The Pennsylvania Supreme Court temporarily suspended Kathleen Kane‘s law license Monday, compounding the attorney general’s political troubles as she faces criminal charges for leaking grand jury information.

The state constitution requires the attorney general to have a law license, but the Supreme Court’s opinion said: “This order should not be construed as removing Respondent from elected office and is limited to the temporary suspension of her license to practice law.”

The attorney general’s office quickly issued a statement: “We plan to review the court’s decision and make a statement once the review is completed.”

Citizen activist Gene Stilp, who filed an ethics complaint against Kane, said “her effective days as Pennsylvania’s attorney general are over. She can still serve but with her legal ability completely restricted and her administrative duties very limited. The other benefit to the citizens of Pennsylvania is that Kane will not run for attorney general in 2016 because a law license is required to be qualified to be attorney general.”

He urged Gov. Tom Wolf to set in motion a process to remove Kane from office.

Kane is due to be arraigned October 14th on the criminal charges.