Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
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The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia is the highest court in West Virginia. It is located in the state capital, Charleston, West Virginia.
Although the West Virginia Constitution allows for an intermediate court of appeals to be created, the Supreme Court currently provides the only appellate review of the decisions of lower trial courts (called "circuit courts").
The five Supreme Court justices hear appeals of decisions over all matters decided in the circuit courts, including criminal convictions affirmed on appeal from magistrate court and appeals from administrative agencies. Workers’ compensation appeals are unique, and are appealed directly to the Supreme Court from the administrative agency. The Supreme Court justices also hear appeals of decisions decided in family court if both parties agree that they will not appeal directly to the circuit court.
There are two terms of the Court each year. The first term begins on the second Tuesday in January and ends in July. The second term begins on the first Wednesday in September and ends in December. The time period between terms is called "sine die," which is Latin for "without day." When the Court is in session, the justices hear cases and deliver opinions. At other times, the justices consider the emergency business that comes before the Court. In addition to its judicial functions, the Supreme Court of Appeals has administrative and regulatory responsibilities. The Court has adopted a Code of Judicial Conduct, Rules for Admission to the Practice of Law, Rules of Professional Conduct, Rules of Judicial Disciplinary Procedure and Rules of Lawyer Disciplinary Procedure.[1]
Justices
The justices of the court are elected to twelve-year terms by staggered, state-wide, partisan elections. In 2004 the State Bar Association was tasked with considering several reform proposals to limit the political nature of the court. It will issue a report before the next election in 2008.
Current composition
Justices as of 2007 are:
The Chief Justiceship is a rotating office, which usually changes from one Justice to another each year.
The seats currently held by Chief Justice Maynard and Justice Starcher were up for election in 2008. On December 20, 2007, Justice Starcher announced that he would not seek another term on the Court. On the May 13, 2008 primary, Maynard lost his re-election bid to Democrat challengers Margaret Workman (a former Justice of the court) and Menis Ketchum; Republican Elizabeth "Beth" Walker also advanced.
In 2008s general election, Democrats Margaret Workman and Menis Ketchum prevailed in a three-way contest against lone Republican challenger Beth Walker.
See the West Virginia Supreme Court elections page for more details.
Funding
1996-2000
According to Robert S. Greenberger of The Wall Street Journal, "At least $750,000 of the $1.6 million in campaign funds raised from 1996 to 2000 by the state Supreme Court's five sitting justices came from plaintiffs lawyers."[2]
U.S. Supreme Court asked to intervene
The New York Times reported in October of 2008 that the nation's court of last resort will potentially hear three cases dealing with businesses and their right to appeal, as well as influence over, the West Virginia Supreme Court. One of the cases involves current Justice Benjamin's refusal to recuse himself from a pending case before the West Virginia bench in which one of Benjamin's past campaign contributors (to the tune of $3+ million) is involved; at issue is due process. Benjamin has "twice joined a 3-to-2 majority throwing out a $50 million verdict against the company," the paper reported. The case (Caperton v. A. T. Massey Coal Company No. 08-22) has accrued supporting briefs from the American Bar Association and the Brennan Center for Justice. The contributor has filed briefs asking that the Supreme Court not hear the case, calling it “a grand conspiracy theory," and further commenting that the United States Supreme Court “has never adopted a ‘looks bad’ due process test.”
The second appeal, Massey Energy v. Wheeling Pittsburgh Steel Corporation (No. 08-218), also revolves around Massey Energy's influence over the court; Massey briefs claim that statements made by sitting Justice Larry Starcher against the energy company require Starcher's recusal from the case in question.
Massey takes a different position in a second appeal to the United States Supreme Court, this one urging the court to disqualify Justice Starcher, he of the intemperate remarks. “There would be no inconsistency” in granting that appeal while turning back the one concerning Justice Benjamin, a Massey brief said, because Justice Starcher’s bias was manifest while Justice Benjamin’s conflict of interest, if there was one, was a question of appearances only.
In a classic "I'll do it if you do" move, Starcher has said he'll recuse himself only if Benjamin recuses himself from Caperton.
At issue in the third appeal is whether or not companies hit with massive punitive damages lawsuits have a right to appeal to the state supreme court. Currently, West Virginia "[does] not guarantee at least one level of appellate review in civil cases." It is one of two states, Virginia being the other, that does not guarantee appellate reviews.[3]
Legal study
In a Metro News op-ed titled "We can figure this out," lawyers for the Peyton Law Firm advocate commissioning a disinterested firm to study how West Virginia could improve its judicial system. The editorial bemoans the two great factions influencing judicial operations--the plaintiffs' bar and big business--as well as the lack of appeals courts.
Using the 2008 West Virginia Supreme Court election for the backdrop, the editorial criticizes the recent move by two special interest groups to attempt to convince federal judges to throw out election laws in order to attack candidates with anonymity. It goes on to assert this year's election will do little to change the fact that "Ideology has largely replaced qualifications as a defining characteristic for court candidates."[4]
2008 election
- See main article at West Virginia Supreme Court elections.
- State bar hears from Supreme Court candidates
- State Supreme Court race was the priciest primary
- Discussion of influence of money on the race
- WV Law on disclosing funding information of political ads struck down
External links
- Should We Keep this Court? An Economic Examination of Recent Decisions Made by the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
- West Virginia Supreme Court Official Site
- Fringe Tactics: Special Interest Groups Target Judicial Races
- Report analyzes economic effect of W.Va. SC
References
Portions of this article have been taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Copyright Notice can be found here.
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