Former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin won't be serving her house arrest sentence, or any other terms of her punishment, while she appeals her conviction on campaign corruption charges, the state's highest court ruled Tuesday.
The court stayed Melvin's entire sentence while her appeal plays out, meaning she won't be getting credit for serving three years' house arrest while she appeals last year's conviction. A jury found she used her former state-paid Superior Court staffers and those of her sister, former state Sen. Jane Orie, to work on her 2003 and 2009 campaigns for the state Supreme Court.
The former justice wanted the court to stay only the part of her sentence requiring her to send handwritten apologies to other state judges. Had that occurred, Melvin would have been satisfying the rest of her sentence while the appeal plays out over the next several months, and would have had less time remaining to serve should she lose.
The Superior Court previously upheld the apology provision but ruled she didn't have to write them on pictures of herself in handcuffs, which has been a key component of her appeals. Instead, that court found in August that the photo requirement imposed by Allegheny County Judge Lester Nauhaus served no legitimate purpose and was meant only to "shame and humiliate her."
Melvin's attorneys have argued she shouldn't have to apologize at all during her appeals because that would amount to her admitting guilt while that was still being contested.
District Attorney Stephen Zappala's office said that wasn't fair, arguing that Nauhaus decided not to sentence Melvin to state prison in part because he felt the court-ordered apology — in conjunction with the other terms of the sentence — would sufficiently punish and rehabilitate Melvin, whom he had chided for her "stunning arrogance." Melvin must also pay a $55,000 fine and work in a soup kitchen.
But in Tuesday's order, the court said, "A challenge to one of several interdependent sentences is, in effect, a challenge to the entire sentencing plan."
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That language seems to support the argument by Zappala's office that Melvin should be resentenced from scratch should any part of her punishment be overturned on appeal.
Zappala's office wanted Nauhaus to impose a prison sentence of 2½ to 5 years and has said in appeal documents that prosecutors would seek a similar sentence if she's ordered resentenced by the appeals court.
Melvin had won a state Supreme Court seat in 2009 before she was charged with using her and her sister's state-funded staffs to run her campaigns. She lost the 2003 election and remained a Superior Court judge at that time.
Melvin's attorney, Patrick Casey, and Zappala's office declined to comment.
