A western Pennsylvania judge has rejected apology letters written by former state Supreme Court justice Joan Orie Melvin and ordered her back on house arrest.
Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Lester Nauhaus said Tuesday that what was written "isn't an apology." He told defense attorney Patrick Casey that each letter must be written by Melvin and personalized to each judge and ex-staffer.
The judge also reinstated Melvin's house arrest, allowing her to leave only to go to church on Sundays, Christmas Eve and the Catholic holy days.
Melvin was sentenced to three years of house arrest on a conviction of using 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.
