sentencing

The trial judge who sentenced former Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Joan Orie Melvin to send apologies written on her photo to every other judge in Pennsylvania won't rule if she violated her probation for not sending those mea culpas just yet. The Associated Press reported the trial judge will wait until the intermediate appellate court rules. Orie Melvin's lawyers argued sending the apologies before her appeal is through would violate her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. She was convicted of misusing the resources of her chamber on her judicial campaigns.

When Orie Melvin was sentenced for politicial corruption, the judge fashioned an unusual sentence:

* three years of house arrest;

* orders to send a picture of herself with an apology written on it to every member of the Pennsylvania judiciary;

* orders to send letters of apology to every member of the staff of her sister, a former state senator also convicted of using taxpayer resources on political campaigns;

* orders to send apologies to every member of her staff ordered to conduct political work even though it is not allowed under the law for government employees to do so;

* orders to send an apology to every member of her family;

* orders to serve in a soup kitchen three times a week, pay a $55,000 fine, and to not use the honorific of justice for the three years she will be on house arrest and for the two years she will be on probation.

An Eighth Circuit judge, who dissented in an American Indian's woman's appeal of her 10-year sentence for killing her baby, told a law school forum he supports her early release, The Grand Forks Herald reported. Judge Myron Bright, now 94, said the defendant would have gotten a lighter sentence if she was not on an American Indian reservation. The judge remarked "because of historical jurisdiction taken by federal courts in Indian Country in the 19th century and more recent special laws, Indians convicted of serious crimes on reservations face harsh federal sentences. For the same crimes, he said, non-Indians 'across the road' would get much more lenient state sentences," the paper also reported.

When former Pennsylvania Justice Joan Orie Melvin was sentenced for politicial corruption, the judge fashioned an unusual sentence:

* three years of house arrest;

* orders to send a picture of herself with an apology written on it to every member of the Pennsylvania judiciary;

* orders to send letters of apology to every member of the staff of her sister, a former state senator also convicted of using taxpayer resources on political campaigns;

* orders to send apologies to every member of her staff ordered to conduct political work even though it is not allowed under the law for government employees to do so;

* orders to send an apology to every member of her family;

* orders to serve in a soup kitchen three times a week, pay a $55,000 fine, and to not use the honorific of justice for the three years she will be on house arrest and for the two years she will be on probation.

The former justice is appealing her sentence, but Allegheny County prosecutors are arguing she could face prison time for violating her probation sentence by not yet sending the letters of apology to the Pennsylvania judiciary, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.