HARRISBURG Court denies justice's plea to delay 6-month suspension

The district justice was cited for drinking on the job twice.
HARRISBURG (AP) -- The state Supreme Court has denied an emergency motion by a district justice who wanted to forestall a six-month suspension for a series of alcohol-related incidents, including drinking during work hours.
The decision by the appeals court means the suspension against Richard K. McCarthy, district justice in the Pittsburgh suburb of Millvale, goes into effect as of last Friday.
"I would have hoped that the court would have granted the stay," said his attorney, Thomas R. Ceraso. "I think under the circumstances it was something that was well worth taking a look at."
McCarthy, who is serving his fourth six-year term in office, entered into an agreement with the Judicial Conduct Board in April in which he acknowledged nine alcohol-related incidents over a two-year period ending in April 2001.
Court records indicate that the two charges of bringing disrepute to his judicial office pertain to drinking during work hours; telling his former father-in-law that his daughter, McCarthy's ex-wife, was "a whore," triggering a tavern scuffle; causing a hit-and-run accident for which no charges were filed; and mooning a woman inside a bar.
Two months of McCarthy's suspension will be unpaid, and he will be on probation for a year, requiring monthly reports to the state Judicial Conduct Board.
Appeal and punishment
In a written statement, Judicial Conduct Board assistant counsel Francis J. Puskas II said he was "extremely pleased" the Supreme Court turned down the request to delay McCarthy's punishment.
"The disrepute brought upon the judiciary by ... McCarthy's undignified and outrageous behaviors required immediate vindication," Puskas wrote.
McCarthy has appealed to the state Supreme Court, but the appeal remains in the early stages, Ceraso said.
"Our position is he hasn't had anything [to drink] for a couple of years and he's an excellent district justice," Ceraso said.
In Pennsylvania, district justices are elected magistrates who can preside over preliminary hearings, summary cases, some civil cases, protection-from-abuse matters, search warrant requests and marriages.
For the next six months, McCarthy's cases will be heard by a neighboring justice, Robert Dzvonick in Shaler Township, said Nancy Galvach, who manages the 54-justice Allegheny County Special Court.
Dzvonick's office is less than two miles from McCarthy's, which will remain open to accept fine payments and filings.