West Virginia Supreme Court Impeachment Story Archives

Amendment 1: The Power To Impeach

Amendment 1 relates to the checks and balances of the legislative and judicial branches of state government. It’s meant to clarify that the judicial branch has no authority to interfere with the West Virginia House and Senate constitutionally granted impeachment powers.

The impetus arose in 2018 after the legislature impeached the entire Supreme Court over numerous financial issues. Marc Williams was the lead attorney for Justice Margaret Workman, who filed suit by questioning legislative procedures, and raising a separation-of-powers issue.

With the suit under consideration, West Virginia’s Supreme Court Justices recused themselves from the proceedings. Circuit judge’s filling in as a Supreme Court ruled in Workman’s favor.

Williams said the amendment is bad and vindictive.

“They’re trying to amend our state constitution to say that – no matter the circumstances. If an impeachment takes place, a court cannot intervene, even if there was a basis for the impeachment which is clearly discriminatory or illegal,” Williams said. “The legislature is angry that the courts intervened and said that their attempt to impeach all five justices of the Supreme Court of Appeals violated our constitution and violated the due process of the justices.”

Senate Judiciary Chair Charles Trump, R-Morgan, said the 2018 fill-in Supreme Court panel overstepped its authority. He said the amendment is needed to make it explicit that the constitution clearly assigns impeachment power to the legislature and no one else.

“Article four, Section nine; The House of Delegates shall have the sole power of impeachment. The Senate shall have the sole power to try impeachments,” Trump said. “The substitute paneled Supreme Court usurped authority that is specifically delegated and conferred upon the legislative branch and disregarded the checks and balances that already exist in the Constitution.”

Williams said the legislature, not liking the results in 2018, wants the amendment to help take away any powers of judicial impeachment review. He cited examples of a possible legislative decision on impeachment proceedings for someone who is African-American or a practicing Muslim.

“Say it was because they believe that we are a Christian nation, and a Muslim should not serve in office. That impeachment could go forward,” Williams said. “There would be no state court that could intervene to stop it, even though it is clearly discriminatory and clearly unconstitutional.”

Trump said impeachment checks and balances for such individuals currently exist through the state constitution, and Amendment 1 offers the legal protections needed.

“It’s never happened before in any state or at the federal level, where the judicial branch of the government decided that it could regulate the manner in which the legislative branch conducts impeachment proceedings,” Trump said. “It’s particularly egregious and frightening because the judicial branch did it to interfere with impeachment of members of the judiciary”

Williams said when you tell a court that they cannot intervene, regardless of the circumstances, that’s what creates a problem.

Voters will decide on changing the constitution – or not – regarding legislative impeachment powers on Nov. 8.

U.S. Supreme Court Won’t Hear West Virginia Impeachment Challenge

The United States Supreme Court has declined to hear a case involving the 2018 impeachment of West Virginia Supreme Court justices. State lawmakers petitioned the nation’s highest court for a review after a ruling by an ad hoc bench of the state Supreme Court halted impeachment proceedings in October 2018.

The nation’s highest court met in private Thursday, Oct. 1, to make decisions about which cases they will and will not take up in its current term, which began Monday, Oct. 7. Justices labeled the case “certiorari denied” and offered no additional comment or reason for not hearing the case.

The West Virginia House of Delegates impeached four of the state’s five justices last year following an investigation into lavish spending on office renovations and other alleged misdeeds.

Justice Beth Walker stood trial and was found not guilty on one count of maladministration. But, the other trials in the state Senate were tossed after one justice challenged her own impeachment.

As the trial of then-Chief Justice Margaret Workman was about kick off, Workman argued that the impeachments violated the separation of powers doctrine in the West Virginia Constitution.

With impeached and newly appointed justices unable to hear the case, an ad hoc bench heard Workman’s challenge to her own impeachment. The temporary justices ruled that lawmakers overstepped their bounds and that the House was flawed in its procedure.

The West Virginia Supreme Court ruling on Workman’s challenge also stopped impeachment trials against two other justices who have since left the court. Robin Davis announced her retirement one day after the House approved impeachment charges against her. Allen Loughry resigned after being convicted of felony fraud charges in federal court.

In a Monday statement, Workman expressed relief that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decided not to hear the case.

“I am gratified that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld my position by refusing to hear the appeal of the dismissal of the impeachment articles filed against me,” Workman said. “With this order from the nation’s highest Court, we can finally rest knowing that the impeachment proceeding that consumed so much time and energy last year is over.”

West Virginia lawmakers had argued that the ruling by the ad hoc bench sets a dangerous precedent in allowing state Supreme Court justices to intervene in their own impeachments. House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, said at the time he believed the ruling would do “irreparable and lasting damage to the constitutional system of government that’s laid out in our state constitution.”

Senate President Mitch Carmichael, R-Jackson, expressed disappointment — but a sense of understanding as to why — the U.S. Supreme Court would not take up the case.

“Although we are deeply disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear our appeal, we always knew it was a long shot due to the Supreme Court taking up so few cases per year,” Senate President Mitch Carmichael said Monday. “On average, about 7,000 cases are petitioned for certiorari each year, and only 100 to 150 petitions are granted. Though we will not get our day before the nation’s highest court, we will continue to look for ways to right the wrong we believe the appointed state Supreme Court committed during the impeachment process.”

Hanshaw echoed Carmichael’s sentiments in a statement released Monday.

“We still firmly believe last year’s decision was deeply flawed, went far beyond the scope of what the Court was asked to consider and establishes a precedent that could have significant unintended effects on the legislative branch in the years to come,” Hanshaw said. “While we have exhausted our avenues of appeal in the court system, we will continue to consider other options to restore and clarify the proper powers guaranteed to each branch of government, including a potential constitutional amendment to expressly clarify each branch of government’s powers with regard to impeachments going forward.”

Legislative leaders had said previously they were not hoping to restart impeachment proceedings but to correct legal errors in the state court’s decision.

Sentencing Set for Ex-W.Va. Supreme Court Justice

A former West Virginia Supreme Court justice is due in court for sentencing for using a state vehicle and gas fuel card for a golf trip to Virginia.

Ex-Justice Menis Ketchum’s sentencing is scheduled for Wednesday, March 6, in federal court in Charleston.

The sentencing comes at the end of a yearlong impeachment and corruption scandal involving the Supreme Court that resulted in significant changes to the state’s judicial system, including the five-member court’s makeup.

The 76-year-old Ketchum pleaded guilty last year to a felony fraud count. His attorney is seeking probation.

The charge was related to a 400-mile trip in 2014 where Ketchum used a state-owned car to drive from his home in Huntington to a private golf club near Bristol, Virginia, using a state credit card to refuel. Court documents show Ketchum traveled to the club from 2011 through 2014.

Ketchum retired in July before the House of Delegates impeached other Supreme Court justices over questions involving lavish office renovations that evolved into accusations of corruption, incompetence and neglect of duty. Some of the justices were accused of abusing their authority by failing to rein in excessive spending.

A temporary panel of justices later ruled the impeachment efforts violated the separation-of-powers doctrine and that the Legislature lacked jurisdiction to pursue the trials. The process was officially derailed when the presiding judge didn’t show up to one of the justice’s impeachment trials in the state Senate because of the decision.

The House is seeking a U.S. Supreme Court review in order to correct what it called legal errors in the decision. The state constitution gives the Legislature the sole power of impeachment. House Speaker Roger Hanshaw has said the earlier opinion “removes virtually all of the constitutional checks and balances we have on the judicial branch of government.”

Another former justice at the center of the scandal, Allen Loughry, was sentenced last month to two years in federal prison for using his job for his own benefit and lying to investigators. Loughry was suspended from the bench in June and resigned in November.

State lawmakers and others have said public trust in the state’s court system was broken by the actions of Loughry and others. Voters in November approved a ballot measure allowing the GOP-led Legislature to decide each year whether to reduce the courts’ budget.

Judicial elections in West Virginia became nonpartisan in 2016, but the court’s impeachment scandal stirred political attacks. Some Democrats argued the court’s shake-up was a power grab by Republicans.

Justice Robin Davis retired after the impeachment charges were announced. Two Republican former lawmakers were appointed in the place of Ketchum and Davis and later won election to complete their terms. Republican Gov. Jim Justice appointed a lifelong friend to replace Loughry until a 2020 special election.

Ex-West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Loughry Sentenced to Two Years

A former West Virginia Supreme Court justice at the center of an impeachment scandal has been sentenced to two years behind bars.

A federal judge in Charleston, West Virginia, sentenced Allen Loughry on Wednesday. He was also ordered to pay $12,000 in fines, restitution and court costs.

Loughry is scheduled to report to prison by April 5.

His lawyer, John Carr, told the court that Loughry has agreed to surrender his law license and not seek public office again.

Loughry was found guilty of 11 counts at his October trial. Most involved mail and wire fraud involving his personal use of state cars and fuel cards. The judge last month threw out a witness tampering conviction.

Loughry repeatedly denied benefiting personally from trips he took when he became a justice in 2013.

W.Va. Senate OKs Resolution on Impeachment Proceedings

The West Virginia Senate has passed a resolution that would let state voters decide whether to prohibit state courts from interfering in impeachment proceedings.

The Senate sent the resolution on a proposed constitutional amendment to the House of Delegates on a 27-6 vote Monday.

Four state Supreme Court justices were impeached in August over questions involving lavish office renovations that evolved into accusations of corruption, incompetence and neglect of duty. Some of the justices were accused of abusing their authority by failing to rein in excessive spending.

In October a temporary panel of justices ruled the impeachment efforts were a violation of the separation-of-powers doctrine and that the Legislature lacked jurisdiction to pursue the trials.

The process was officially derailed when the presiding judge didn’t show up to one justice’s Senate trial because of the decision.

Conduct Hearing Set for Ex-W.Va. Supreme Court Justice

Convicted former West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Allen Loughry faces a conduct hearing next month.

The West Virginia Judicial Hearing Board has scheduled the hearing for Feb. 6 in Charleston on charges that Loughry violated judicial codes of conduct.

Loughry had repeatedly denied involvement in lavish renovations of his office, including to a House of Delegates committee. But a state Judicial Investigation Commission complaint said Supreme Court records show he had a significant role in them.

Loughry was convicted in October in federal court of multiple felony counts, mostly for using state cars and fuel cards for his own use. He is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday.

Loughry was removed as chief justice last February after other justices learned he kept a federal subpoena secret. He was suspended from the bench in June and resigned in November.