The state Supreme Court has removed from the bench a Philadelphia Municipal Court judge who pleaded guilty to federal identity fraud charges during the 1980s.

Judge Deborah Shelton Griffin was the target of a quo warranto action filed jointly by the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office and the state attorney general’s office.

In a unanimous decision, four justices ruled in Commonwealth v. Griffin, PICS Case No. 08-0759 (Pa. May 6, 2008) Saylor, J. (19 pages) that Griffin’s convictions constitute “infamous crimes” under Article II, Section 7 of the state Constitution, which bars anyone convicted of such an offense from holding “an office of trust or profit” in Pennsylvania.

Griffin’s attorney, Samuel C. Stretton, of West Chester, Pa., said he was shocked and disappointed by the court’s decision.

“I just called Judge Griffin. It was one of the saddest things I’ve ever had to do. She’s been a great friend of mine for years,” Stretton said shortly after the opinion was released. “On a personal standpoint, I think this is a great loss to the bench. It’s a tragedy.”

Chief Deputy Attorney General Barry Kramer said his office is pleased with the decision and feels that the public interest has been served.

“It’s important that the people and litigants who appear before judges have faith in the system, and we believe the Supreme Court’s decision goes a long way in furthering that trust,” Kramer said.

A spokeswoman for the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on the decision.

Griffin was indicted in 1984 on four counts related to her use of a false social security number to obtain credit cards from various companies. She pleaded guilty to two felony counts in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to court documents. Two counts were dropped and Griffin’s sentence of imprisonment was suspended.

A federal district judge instead sentenced Griffin to serve two concurrent three-year terms of probation and pay restitution to the credit card companies, according to briefs in the case.

In an opinion by Justice Thomas G. Saylor, the court rejected Griffin’s argument that the constitutional bar should not apply to her offenses because they did not affect her ability to administer justice in her courtroom. In support of that argument, Griffin cites the Supreme Court’s 1842 decision in Commonwealth v. Shaver, 1842 WL 4918 (Pa. 1842) where the court held that a felony is not an infamous crime unless it undermines the administration of justice.

“Contrary to respondent’s argument, in the years since Shaver was decided, this court has consistently adhered to an interpretation in which felonies and crimen falsi offenses are distinct (albeit overlapping) categories, both of which contribute to the definition of infamous crimes,” Saylor wrote.