[3] From 1981 to 1985, Melvin served as a corporate counsel and was engaged in a private law practice, concentrating in civil litigation.
She was judge of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, being appointed to fill a vacancy in 1990 and then getting elected to a full term in 1991.
The case was appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which ruled in 2003 that anonymous political speech is protected by the First Amendment.
They were accused of using Jane Orie's senate staff and office resources to help run their sister's 2009 campaign for the state supreme court.
She was also ordered to perform community service in a soup kitchen 3 days a week, to send a hand-written apology to every judge in the state along with a picture of herself in handcuffs, and to pay for the cost of the photograph.