West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Story Archives - Page 2 of 21

Office Of Drug Control Policy May Leave DHHR

Changes may be coming to the Office of Drug Control Policy if a House bill passes the West Virginia Legislature. House Bill 3306 would take the office away from the state Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and give it new responsibilities.

Changes may be coming to the Office of Drug Control Policy if a House bill passes the West Virginia Legislature.

House Bill 3306 would take the office away from the state Department of Health and Human Resources (DHHR) and give it new responsibilities.

One new duty is the creation of a Sober Living Home Taskforce. According to state surveys, there is an influx of substance use disorder treatment and rehabilitation homes around the state. That growth has prompted a number of related bills and studies.

Del. Scot Heckert, R-Wood, believes the task force will aid in controlling and decreasing what he and others say are a growing number of non-certified, unregulated, sober living homes more focused on making a profit than helping people.

“It’s like Dodge City,” Heckert said. “They do what they want to. Our approval in the house for a task force to study them will help weed out the baddies.”

The bill also charges the office with developing a strategic plan to reduce the prevalence of drug and alcohol abuse and smoking by at least 10 percent but it doesn’t set a deadline.

The legislation also deems the office must:

Oversee a school-based initiative that links schools with community-based agencies and health departments to implement school-based anti-drug and anti-tobacco programs; coordinate media campaigns designed to demonstrate the negative impact of substance use disorder, smoking and the increased risk of tobacco addiction and the development of other diseases.
Review Drug Enforcement Agency and the West Virginia scheduling of controlled substances and recommend changes that should be made based on data analysis.
Develop recommendations to improve communication between health care providers and their patients about the risks and benefits of opioid therapy for acute pain, improve the safety and effectiveness of pain treatment, and reduce the risks associated with long-term opioid therapy, including opioid use disorder and overdose.

The bill passed by a vote of 90 to 4 and now goes to the Senate for consideration.

Former Supreme Court Justice Larry Starcher Dies

Larry V. Starcher, a retired Supreme Court Justice and Monongalia County Circuit Judge, passed away Saturday, Dec. 24. He was 80.

Larry V. Starcher, a retired Supreme Court Justice and Monongalia County Circuit Judge, died Saturday, Dec. 24. He was 80.

“Justice Starcher devoted his life to public service, as a circuit judge, Supreme Court justice, and law professor,” said Chief Justice John Hutchison. “He was a mentor to many young lawyers, law students, and law clerks. His love for the law school was known to all. His monetary gifts were important, but his gift of teaching was the most important of all. He had an incredible work ethic and was a champion of many causes. He was a loyal friend to many and will be sorely missed. On behalf of my fellow justices, I send sincere condolences to his family.”

Starcher was born at home in Calhoun County, West Virginia, on Sept. 25, 1942 and was raised in Spencer, in Roane County, and graduated from Spencer High School in 1960. He earned his bachelor’s degree (1964) and his law degree (1967) from West Virginia University.

Before being elected circuit judge in 1976, he served as an Assistant to the Vice-President for Off-Campus Education at West Virginia University and as Director of the North Central West Virginia Legal Aid Society. He served as circuit judge for 20 years.

While sitting as a circuit judge, Starcher served as a special judge in 23 of West Virginia’s 55 counties. He presided over the trial of 20,000 asbestos injury cases and a six-month state buildings asbestos trial. As a trial judge, he was active in the area of juvenile justice, including establishing alternative learning centers for youths at risk and a youth shelter. He also pioneered the use of work release and community service as punishment for nonviolent offenders.

In November 1996, he was elected to a full twelve-year term on the Supreme Court of Appeals. He served as chief justice in 1999 and 2003, and he promoted action in several areas of judicial administration, specifically the Court Facilities Committee, Public Trust and Confidence in the Judiciary, Mental Hygiene Commission, Court Technology Summit, Self-Represented Litigants Task Force, State Law Library improvements, and he reactivated the Gender Fairness Task Force.

In 2004, in partnership with the Mountain State Bar, West Virginia’s historic minority bar association, Justice Starcher and his senior law clerk, Thomas Rodd, initiated the J.R. Clifford Project, a series of statewide community programs and publications based on the life and work of J.R. Clifford (1848-1933), West Virginia’s first African American lawyer. He retired from the Supreme Court at the end of 2008 but continued working as a senior status judge by appointment. He also served as an adjunct lecturer at the West Virginia University College of Law until 2020, teaching pre-trial litigation and trial advocacy, and he advised the Lugar Trial Association.

W.Va. Supreme Court Issues Opinion In Scholarship Ruling

West Virginia’s Supreme Court released a full opinion Thursday in an order it issued last month that allowed a non-public school scholarship program to continue.

The five-member court on Oct. 6 reversed a lower court’s ruling that had blocked the Hope Scholarship Program. The program was supposed to start this school year and is one of the most far-reaching school choice programs in the country. It incentivizes West Virginia families to pull their children out of K-12 public schools by offering them state-funded scholarships.

A Charleston-area judge in July ruled the program violated the state’s constitutional mandate to provide “a thorough and efficient system of free schools.”

Writing for the majority, Justice Tim Armstead said in a 49-page opinion that the state Constitution “does not prohibit the Legislature from enacting the Hope Scholarship Act in addition to providing for a thorough and efficient system of free schools.”

“The Constitution allows the Legislature to do both of these things,” Armstead said. “Therefore, we find that the circuit court abused its discretion by permanently enjoining the State from implementing the Hope Scholarship Act.”

The higher court’s decision was not unanimous. In a dissenting opinion, Chief Justice John Hutchison argued that the state Constitution provides “that the Legislature’s obligation to provide a through and efficient education is limited to doing so only by a system of free schools, not through subsidizing private educational systems.

“As such, the Hope Scholarship Act and its subsidization of private education is prohibited by the West Virginia Constitution. I would, therefore, have affirmed the circuit court,” he wrote.

Passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature last year, the law that created the Hope Scholarship Program allows families to apply for state funding to support private school tuition, homeschooling fees and a wide range of other expenses.

More than 3,000 students were approved to receive around $4,300 each during the program’s inaugural cycle, according to the West Virginia State Treasurer’s Office. The first payments were supposed to go out in August but were put on hold while the lower court’s block on the program was in place.

Families can’t receive the money if their children were already homeschooled or attending private school. To qualify, students have to have been enrolled in a West Virginia public school last year or had to be set to begin kindergarten this school year.

In January, three parents of special education students sued the state, saying the scholarship program takes money away from already underfunded public schools. The lawsuit was supported by the West Virginia Board of Education. One family later withdrew from the case.

Hope Scholarship Board Holds Emergency Meeting

Last week, the West Virginia Supreme Court lifted an injunction against the Hope Scholarship program. The program's governing board must now address delays and issues the injunction caused for the program to move forward.

Last week, the West Virginia Supreme Court lifted an injunction against the Hope Scholarship program. The program’s governing board must now address delays and issues the injunction caused for the program to move forward.

The Hope Scholarship Board held an emergency meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss the program’s next actions after an Oct. 6 ruling by the Supreme Court lifted an injunction against the program.

The Hope Scholarship Act became law in 2021, providing money for a variety of educational expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other educational activities.

The board discussed and adopted a new section to the legislative rules of the program, addressing eligibility and payment issues caused by the injunction. Most notably, Deputy Treasurer of Savings Programs Amy Willard explained applicants who sent their students to public school for the fall semester will receive a prorated amount.

“The students who went ahead and went to non-public school would receive the full amount,” she said. “We know that there are some students who are currently attending public school and so they would not be entitled to the full amount.”

The July 6 injunction from the Kanawha County Circuit Court was handed down just a month before the start of the school year. Many families were counting on the Hope Scholarship to help pay for private tuition.

Willard said Hope Scholarship recipients likely won’t see any money until January. She also said an update will be available on the program’s site later Wednesday, and applicants will be contacted directly.

“We’re going to have to basically ask everyone what they’ve been doing so far, you know, are they in public school?” Willard said. “Every parent that has been approved or had a pending application will be contacted, hopefully, within the next couple of weeks to start moving forward with this process.”

The board also moved to suspend consideration of any new Hope Scholarship application requests for the duration of the 2022-23 school year, with an exception for newly eligible students as already defined in the board’s existing emergency rules.

“This will allow board staff to focus on the implementation issues needed to get the Hope Scholarship Program completely up and running for the students and families who have already been approved, or who are in process,” Willard said.

The Hope Scholarship Board is expected to meet again in November.

High Court Dissolves Hope Scholarship Injunction

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has lifted the injunction against the Hope Scholarship.

This is a developing story and may be updated.

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has lifted the injunction against the Hope Scholarship.

In July, Kanawha Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit halted the legislative program, ruling that the $4,300 offered to about 3,000 students for non-public school educational expenses was unconstitutional, diverting millions of dollars from an already underfunded public school system.

The state legislature passed and the governor signed the Hope Scholarship Act into law in 2021. It provides money for a variety of educational expenses, including tuition and fees at participating private schools and other educational activities.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey praised the court’s opinion.

“Today’s order is a tremendous victory for the hard-working families across West Virginia who deserve increased options for their children’s individual educational needs,” he said. “Today’s win will make an incredible difference for thousands of families across the State — the Hope Scholarship Act opens more doors for West Virginia students while leaving public schools with the funding and other resources they need to remain strong.”

Acting just two days after the court heard oral arguments, the Supreme Court issued an expedited order “given the nature of the constitutional matters at issue and the need to resolve the appeal in an expedited manner.”

The order dissolved an injunction and reversed the order that the Circuit Court of Kanawha County issued on July 22, 2022, which had put a temporary stop to the Hope Scholarship program. The Court’s detailed opinion will follow.

Senate President Craig Blair, R-Berkeley, issued the following statement on the ruling.

“On behalf of the entire majority caucus, we thank the court for their careful consideration of a matter that affects so many West Virginia families. We believe that all children in West Virginia deserve the best education that meets their individual needs, and that parents should have the right to all educational options.”

Treasurer Riley Moore, who serves as Chairman of the Hope Scholarship Board, said the Board will soon meet at the earliest possible date to resolve various implementation issues in order to begin administration of the program.

Families are encouraged to visit www.hopescholarshipwv.com over the coming days for more information as it becomes available.

W.Va. High School Students Creating Furniture For New Court

Three shop students and their teacher from a West Virginia high school are working this summer to build furniture for the new Intermediate Court of Appeals courtrooms.

Herbert Hoover High School in Clendenin won the bid to produce benches, podiums and tabletops for the main courtroom in Charleston and five satellite courtrooms.

The satellite courtrooms in Grant, Lewis, Morgan, Raleigh and Wetzel counties will allow parties to virtually argue cases.

The court was created last year to hear appeals of civil judgments from circuit courts.

The main bench is being made of walnut and will seat up to five judges, while the satellite benches are made of cherry and can be linked to the main courtroom, the Supreme Court said in a news release.

Some members of the Supreme Court and Intermediate Court of Appeals visited the shop this month to discuss details.

The students — Kole Johnson, Josh Stuart and Lane Ramsey — are working on the project during the summer and being paid $15 an hour, the release said.

“You guys wanted them to do the work and they are,” Hoover shop teacher Tim Meyer told the court officials. “They could set up a cabinet shop and make a living at this.”