The nomination of a Pennsylvania judge to the state’s Supreme Court hit a road block on Friday after the Centre Daily Times reported that he once sent an allegedly racist email.
Judge Thomas K. Kistler (R), who was nominated by Gov. Tom Wolf (D), reportedly sent a holiday card via email in December 2013 that contained a photo of a black man and a black woman during a jail visit. The photo, framed by Santa Claus and a reindeer, was entitled “Merry Christmas From the Johnsons.”
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“That is the court of last resort for ensuring justice and equality in Pennsylvania,” he told the Inquirer. “It is important not only that they do justice but that they are perceived to be fair and interested in doing justice. I don’t know Kistler well enough to know if this is a pattern or an aberrant incident. I am troubled by what we’ve seen thus far.”
Wolf’s other nominee to the court, Duquesne University School of Law Dean Ken Gormley, is also facing questions over a harassment complaint that was filed in 2006.
