Patrick Morrisey Story Archives - Page 7 of 12 - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Supreme Court Justice Evan Jenkins To Resign

West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Evan Jenkins announced his resignation this afternoon.

Jenkins told Gov. Jim Justice in a letter Friday that he’s stepping down from the court as of Sunday. Jenkins told the governor he’s returning to private practice.

Justice appointed Jenkins to the Court in 2018, and he was elected to a full term that expires in 2024.

The Judicial Vacancy Advisory Commission will fill the vacancy, and voters will have the chance to elect a new justice.

Jenkins was previously a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from West Virginia and also served in both the state Senate and House of Delegates.

Jenkins, of Huntington, was West Virginia’s chief justice in 2021.

Before his appointment to the court in 2018, Jenkins ran in the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey beat Jenkins and former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship.

W.Va. Supreme Court Votes Unanimously For Harpers Ferry To Count Votes In 2019 Municipal Election

Updated on June 18, 2020 at 9:15 a.m.

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has settled a yearlong debate over four provisional ballots in Harpers Ferry.

The state’s highest court voted unanimously on Monday for the Harpers Ferry Town Council to count four provisional ballots from last June’s municipal election. The council had thrown out those ballots over typographical errors.

The election was contested by two council candidates, Nancy Singleton Case and Deborah McGee. The Harpers Ferry Town Council consists of the mayor, recorder, and five members of council — all are elected to two-year terms.

In a news release, Secretary of State Mac Warner said he’s pleased the Supreme Court upheld state code that says technical errors shall be disregarded and the votes would be required to be counted.

In September, the current town council – two of whom could lose their seats depending on the four votes – issued a majority opinion rejecting the four provisional ballots.

It’s unclear if the votes will affect the outcome of the election once they are counted. The West Virginia Secretary of State’s office said in a statement to West Virginia Public Broadcasting that the Harpers Ferry Town Council would be required to count the votes at their next scheduled meeting or at a special meeting.

Regular monthly meetings of the Council are held at 7:00 p.m. on the second Monday of each month, according to the Council’s website.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey also stood by the Supreme Court’s decision saying “technical errors should not be used to deny someone the right to vote.”

Details and a timeline of the contest can be found on Harpers Ferry’s website.

Patrick Morrisey Files For 3rd Term As Attorney General

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey filed for reelection Tuesday, highlighting his work on the opioid crisis, church sex abuse and opposition to the Affordable Care Act.

Morrisey, a Republican, formally turned in his 2020 candidacy paperwork with a gaggle of GOP lawmakers at the secretary of state’s office. He framed his bid for a third term as a way to handle “unfinished business.”

“The opioid epidemic is devastating for our state. That will be a top priority. We must continue to target the root causes of this problem with everything in our arsenal,” Morrisey said.

As the state’s top prosecutor, Morrisey has overseen multiple lawsuits against opioid makers that have led to about $84 million in settlements to the state, including a $37 million deal with the drug distributor McKesson. Some, including U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, have criticized the settlement with McKesson with as insufficient.

Morrisey also sued the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, accusing it of knowingly employing pedophiles, in a case brought under the state’s consumer protection act, which several attorneys said was a first-of-its kind move. He suffered a setback in the case late last year, when a circuit judge dismissed the suit until the state Supreme Court decides whether it violates rules about the separation of church and state. Morrisey said he expects a hearing in the spring.

He was elected as the state’s top prosecutor in 2012 and won a second term in 2016. In 2018, he lost a U.S. Senate race against Manchin by just about 3 percent after President Donald Trump rallied behind Morrisey.

Morrisey has drawn fire statewide for his legal opposition to the Affordable Care Act and this year proposed, along with Republican leaders, a bill to cover preexisting condition health care costs if the Affordable Care Act is struck down.

Democrats Del. Isaac Sponaugle and labor lawyer Sam Brown Petsonk have also recently filed to run for attorney general. Both have been critical of Morrisey’s legal opposition to the Affordable Care Act, with Sponaugle previously calling the attorney general’s position “outrageous” and Petsonk saying that “losing those Medicaid-backed services would set us back years in the fight against the opioid crisis.”

Giuliani Associates Indicted On Campaign Finance Laws Funded Morrisey-Focused PAC

Updated Thursday, October 10 at 9:00 p.m.

The indictment of Rudy Giuliani’s associates has a connection to West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey.

Global Energy Producers, the company owned by Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, made a donation to a Morrisey-focused political action committee in his failed U.S. Senate bid last year. NPR reports the two foreign-born Florida businessmen helped Giuliani dig up dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son in Ukraine — a scandal at the core of House Democrats’ ongoing impeachment inquiry.

Campaign finance records show Global Energy Producers gave $15,000 on May 3, 2018 to 35th Inc. — an independent expenditure that took aim at Morrisey’s opponents for U.S. Senate.

Morrisey won the Republican nomination just days later — but lost in the general election to incumbent Democrat Joe Manchin.

Through a spokesman, Morrisey declined to comment on the donation to the political action committee that spent money on his race.

“35th Inc. PAC is an independent entity, and any questions should be directed to them,” Morrisey spokesman Brian O’Neel said in an email to West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

According to federal campaign finance law, an independent expenditure — such as 35th Inc. — involves election spending “that is not made in cooperation, consultation, or concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, a candidate, a candidate’s authorized committee, or their agents, or a political party committee or its agents.”

An attorney representing the Morrisey-focused political action committee said they were unaware of the circumstances surrounding donation from Global Energy Producers.

“Your question is the first indication that 35th Inc. has received anything untoward regarding any contribution that it received,” Sloane Carlough said in an email. “Based upon the news today, the PAC would like to disgorge the contribution in question, but does not have the funds available to do that.”

A earlier version of a story from the Charleston Gazette-Mail pubished the same statement from Carlough.

Charles Gantt, treasurer of 35th Inc., did not respond to repeated requests for an interview.

An indictment from the Southern District of New York says Parnas, Fruman and two others “conspired to circumvent the federal laws against foreign influence” by filtering donations through Global Energy Producers. The indictment does not reference Morrisey or 35th Inc.

The company also made a $325,000 donation to America First Action, which supports Donald Trump.

W.Va. Sues Over Pelvic Mesh Implant After Sales Halted In U.S.

West Virginia on Wednesday, Sept. 18, sued Johnson & Johnson over its marketing of a surgical mesh used to treat pelvic conditions in women after…

West Virginia on Wednesday, Sept. 18, sued Johnson & Johnson over its marketing of a surgical mesh used to treat pelvic conditions in women after regulators halted sales of the device in the U.S.

The state’s attorney general, Patrick Morrisey, filed a consumer protection case against the company in Monongalia County, saying it misrepresented the risks and effectiveness of the medical implant. Washington, California, Kentucky and Mississippi have filed similar suits against Johnson & Johnson.

The federal Food and Drug Administration stopped sales of the mesh in April after years of injury reports as well as tens of thousands of lawsuits from women who said they had bleeding, pain and infection from the devices. Several major manufacturers of the mesh, including Johnson & Johnson, had previously stopped making the implants.

The suit in West Virginia accuses Johnson & Johnson and its subsidiaries of pumping out misleading information about the mesh, sometimes using studies written by paid consultants. It is seeking civil penalties.

“Misrepresenting any product’s safety is unlawful and can have dire effects on consumers,” Morrisey said.

A spokeswoman for Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon issued a statement denying the allegations in the lawsuit.

“Ethicon acted appropriately and responsibly in the research, development and marketing of its pelvic mesh products, and the company intends to defend vigorously against the claims asserted by the state,” said spokeswoman Mindy Tinsley.

Gynecologists in the 1990s starting adapting surgical mesh to treat pelvic collapse in women, which can cause the bladder or reproductive organs to move, leading to pain and urinary issues. The FDA approved the mesh specifically for such usage in 2002.

But the FDA received thousands of reports of injuries and issued a series of warnings. The mesh can sometimes shift out of place, damaging internal organs or the abdomen wall, requiring multiple surgeries to fix. In 2016, the agency reclassified the mesh as high-risk.

As with most medical devices on the market, the FDA approved pelvic mesh through a regulatory pathway that reviews new products based on their similarities to decades-old devices already on the market, rather than new testing in patients.

Last November, the FDA announced plans to revamp that system so that medical devices would use more up-to-date technology.

State Lawsuit Against Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, Background and Reactions

West Virginia’s attorney general is suing the state’s Catholic Church. The lawsuit filed this week claims the church knowingly employed pedophiles in…

West Virginia’s attorney general is suing the state’s Catholic Church. The lawsuit filed this week claims the church knowingly employed pedophiles in schools and camps without informing parents.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey says the state is stepping in because the church violated the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act when it failed to disclose important information to families paying for educational services.

“We allege that the Wheeling-Charleston Diocese persisted in covering up and keeping secret the criminal behavior of priests related to sexual abuse of children,” Morrisey said during a press conference.

Investigations into the Catholic Church exist in more than a dozen other states, many suits drawing criminal charges in specific abuse cases.

However, Morrisey’s is a civil case. His might be the first to use consumer protection laws to try to hold Catholic officials accountable. Morrisey hopes this approach will be more successfully prosecuted than criminal charges which can be hampered by statutes of limitations.

A Timeline of Investigations

In addition to the attorney general’s state investigation announced this week, two separate internal investigations into the Catholic Church were recently conducted.

The Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston began its own internal investigation of all documented cases of credible abuse accusations earlier in 2018.

In September, 2018, the Diocese Bishop Michael Bransfield turned 75 years old, and as is customary, he resigned his position. Rome accepted his resignation unusually fast (within a matter of days) and simultaneously launched an investigation into allegations that Bransfield sexually harassed adults.

At that point the West Virginia’s attorney general signaled he wanted to investigate, but it wasn’t clear that he had until this week’s announcement.

In November, the diocese revealed what they found during their internal probe. In “an effort to build back trust,” a list was released of all of the “credibly accused” names the diocese has been made aware of in the last 70 years.

Eighteen former clergy were named, including the allegations and complaints against them, when the diocese was made aware, and their assignments throughout their time with the diocese.

Last week the investigation into former bishop Bransfield concluded. Findings were not released but sent to Rome for final judgement. The investigation was conducted by five lay investigators who looked into “multiple allegations of sexual harassment and financial improprieties.”

Morrisey is calling on the Catholic Church to release the details of that investigation.

Diocesan Response

In a statement released in response to the state’s lawsuit, the diocese challenged the attorney general’s assertions. The statement indicates there’s some question about timelines reported and whether accused priests were in fact knowingly placed in schools as the lawsuit contends.

The diocese also wrote that it has employed a “zero tolerance policy for any cleric, employee or volunteer credibly accused of abuse.” That policy was established more than a decade ago.

The statement also indicates that many details of the lawsuit come from the publicized findings from the internal review released late last year — but that the some allegations are not accurately described, and that some are more than 50 years old.

Abuse Victims’ Response

Following the attorney general’s announcement, protesters held small demonstrations in front of the Catholic Cathedral of Saint Joseph in Wheeling. Members of organizations that support victims of abuse quietly held signs. Many were victims themselves.

Judy Jones, the midwest regional leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, stood with a handful of people applauding the attorney general Thursday.

“This is still happening,” she said of abusive behavior by priests and coverups. “This is still going on.”

Jones asserts the list of abusive clerics released by the Catholic Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston late last year is incomplete and hopes the attorney general is able to reveal more abuse and inspire similar lawsuits throughout the country.

Former priest and brother Robert Hoatson came from New Jersey and stood in front of the cathedral Wednesday with signs in hand. He founded a nonprofit called Road to Recovery in 2003 and says he was himself abused as a brother and as a seminarian.

“That culture of aberrant sexuality runs through the entire church,” he said. “The church only cares about protecting its image and its money.”

Hoatson said he was encouraged by his experience protesting in Wheeling.

“Usually I’m harassed or told to get a life or a real job, but I can’t believe the number of people who have driven by and beeped with their thumbs up,” he said. “I think people are beginning to realize the corruption of the hierarchy that created this mess.”