IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
EASTERN DISTRICT
IN RE: MICHAEL J. SULLIVAN, : No. 128 EM 2014
TRAFFIC COURT JUDGE, :
PHILADELPHIA COUNTY :
:
:
PETITION OF: MICHAEL J. SULLIVAN :
ORDER
PER CURIAM
AND NOW, this 18th day of November, 2014, in response to the “Application for
Relief,” treated as a King’s Bench Petition, the February 1, 2013 order of this Court,
entered at 398 Judicial Administration Docket, is VACATED in its entirety.
The order of February 1, 2013, suspended Petitioner from his judicial office
without pay predicated on a federal indictment charging Petitioner with various crimes
allegedly committed in connection with that office. The instant vacatur recognizes
Petitioner’s subsequent acquittal of all such charges.
As acknowledged by Petitioner, the Court of Judicial Discipline (“CJD”) entered a
separate order suspending Petitioner without pay. The present order should not be
construed as bearing in any way upon the propriety or longevity of the CJD’s order or
upon any further proceedings or action which may be appropriate within the scheme of
judicial discipline prescribed in Article V, Section 18 of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
See In re Bruno, 2014 WL 4915942, *40 (Pa. 2014) (“[t]he constitutional powers of the
Supreme Court and the [Court of Judicial Discipline], and the legal predicates for their
respective actions, are distinct and may comfortably operate separately”).
Mr. Chief Justice Castille files a dissenting statement.
Mr. Justice Stevens dissents, as he would not vacate the February 1, 2013 order.