SCRANTON -- A second justice of the state Supreme Court has stepped down after being connected to the inappropriate emails that made their way around the Capitol.
One of the high court's newest justices was in Lackawanna County and she weighed in on the scandal known as “Porngate.”
“Of course, it's an embarrassment.”
That's how state Supreme Court Justice Christine Donohue feels about the scandal rocking the Commonwealth's Capitol that has reached even the state's highest court.
“To have, to have laundry like that, aired in the press, how could it be anything other than an embarrassment?” said Donohue.
Known as Porngate, State Attorney General Kathleen Kane claims judges, prosecutors and other state officials in Harrisburg were exchanging pornographic, sexist and racist emails on state servers.
On Monday, Donohue's fellow bench mate, Justice Michael Eakin resigned, becoming the second justice to step down amid the scandal.
Justice Seamus McCaffery retired in October 2014.
“The fact that he resigned when he did, I can't say that I was shocked at any point in time, but I can't say that I was really surprised by it,” said Donohue.
Donohue spoke to Newswatch 16 at the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel in Scranton where she was the keynote speaker for the annual Saint Patrick's Day dinner for the Society of Irish Women.
She's been a justice for just two months as she is one of three newly elected members of the state's Supreme Court.
“I hear many, many people tell me that everybody is really just thrilled with the notion that there's brand new blood on the court,” said Donohue. “We're 50 percent of the court now. 50 percent of the court is brand new.”