HARRISBURG, Pa. — A Black woman who is a former justice on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has released a sworn affidavit that accuses the court's chief justice, Thomas Saylor, of complaining to another judge in 2012 about "her minority agenda."
The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported that Cynthia Baldwin released the affidavit publicly Thursday.
Saylor, who is white, denies making the comments.
The alleged comment by Saylor came in the context of a disciplinary complaint against Baldwin that ended in her being reprimanded by the court over her work as Penn State's chief counsel during the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
Baldwin says it shows "bias and vindictiveness" in the disciplinary process against her.
In a statement Friday, PA Courts communication director Stacey Witalec denied Baldwin's allegations, saying:
"The allegations being made by former Justice Baldwin...are false and offensive. The allegations of racial animus or suggestions of impropriety are particularly disappointing at a time of heightened awareness of racial disparities in American culture.
"The Chief Justice categorically denies making any statements about Justice Baldwin causing “trouble” on the Court due to a “minority agenda.” The Chief Justice recalls Justice Baldwin as a collegial judicial colleague who did not exhibit any “agenda” of any sort.
"The Chief Justice does recall a brief conversation with then Senior Judge Feudale at one of the trial judge conferences but does not recall the year.
"The Supreme Court plays an important supervisory role with respect to grand juries. At the time, there was much reporting in the media about the tremendous controversy surrounding the representation of officials of the PA State University in the grand jury proceedings before former Senior Judge Feudale. Justice Saylor asked him, entirely appropriately, what had happened.
"Concerning the recusal, recusal decisions are personal to the judge. The Chief Justice confirms that former Senior Judge Feudale's false claims were brought to his attention prior to his recusal. In light of those false allegations and given the fact that he sat with Justice Baldwin while on the Court, he chose to recuse himself. The other Justices who sat with Justice Baldwin also chose to recuse.
"To the best of our knowledge, the allegations in the affidavit now being levied against the Chief Justice were not raised in the disciplinary proceedings, and are based on a third hand account from Mr. Feudale. Mr. Feudale was twice removed by the Supreme Court from service on the bench, first as supervising grand jury judge in 2013, and then as a senior judge in 2015, amid concerns about his judgment and behavior and accusations of misconduct."
