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. 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 courthouse is located in the state capital, Charleston, West Virginia.

Jurisdiction

The court has original jurisdiction on matters of habeas corpus, mandamus, prohibition, and certiorari. The court also interprets the law and the constitution.^[1]

Case load

In 2006, the total number of petitions were 3,544. The previous year saw a total of 2,983; this is an increase of 561 petitions.^[2]

The court's justices

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has five justices who are elected by the voters in partisan elections to 12-year terms. A replacement may be appointed by the Governor in the case of a mid-term court vacancy. In the case of temporary inability of a justice to serve the court, the chief justice may assign a Circuit Court judge to serve in their stead.

A retired justice or judge may apply for senior status to serve on temporary assignment as a justice of the supreme court of appeals, pending approval by the supreme court of appeals. ^[3]

Selection of justices

Each of the five justices on the Supreme Court of Appeals in West Virginia serves terms of 12 years. In the case of a vacancy, the Governor of the state appoints the justice. That appointed justice must then run in the next general election.^[4]

Qualifications

Justices must have practiced law for at least 10 years.^[5]

Current justices

Chief justice

The Chief Justice position rotates among the justices each year.^[6] The 2009 chief justice is Brent Benjamin. ^[7]

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 (more than $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.^[8]

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."^[9]

2008 election

The seats 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, and in 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 the 2008 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.

Schedule of the court

Inside the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia

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.^[10]

Campaign funds

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."^[11]

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
• Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia 2006 Statistical Report
• 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

References

Portions of this article have been taken from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Copyright Notice can be found here.

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