HARRISBURG — The state’s ethics court for judges said Thursday it wants more information about whether it should hold a Supreme Court justice responsible for e-mails with offensive content that he may not have opened.

The Court of Judicial Discipline on Thursday directed Justice Michael Eakin’s lawyers and the Judicial Conduct Board to address whether those e-mails are relevant if there is no proof he even saw them.

Eakin, a Republican, is accused of violating behavioral rules for judges by participating in the exchange of e-mails with lewd and objectionable content in a scandal that has resulted in firings, resignations and reprimands for lawyers, judges and others in state government. Eakin has apologized for “insensitive” e-mails but has argued his role does not merit discipline.

Eakin lawyer Bill Costopoulos told panel the issue was of great concern to judges around the state.

“There’s no evidence they were solicited,” he said. “There’s not even any evidence they were opened. And that’s the iceberg here. And that iceberg is what has hurt him and the judiciary in the court of public opinion and the media.”

According to the Judicial Conduct Board, Eakin sent or responded to e-mails that included a joke about a woman beaten by her husband; a “sexually suggestive thread/conversation” between Eakin and a state lawyer about one of Eakin’s female employees; an explicit discussion about going to a strip club in Myrtle Beach, S.C., with golfing buddies; and a joke about an ice cream flavor, Barocky Road, named for President Barack Obama, “a blend of half vanilla, half chocolate and surrounded by nuts and flakes.”