West Virginia Supreme Court Story Archives - Page 2 of 15

W.Va. Chief Justice Suspends Some Court Health Protocols

West Virginia Chief Justice Evan Jenkins has suspended many of the court health protocols that arose last year from the coronavirus pandemic.

Jenkins’ administrative order contained some exceptions.

Courts should continue using remote technology when possible for hearings and proceedings, Jenkins’ order said. They should also continue avoiding the use of call dockets to cut back on extended waiting periods in lobbies, common areas and court rooms, he wrote.

Protocols for people in prison or jail remain in effect, and hearings for such people should continue to use video conferencing to reduce the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak in a jail or corrections facility, Jenkins wrote.

If circumstances change or a local outbreak occurs, additional steps may be taken.

West Virginia Supreme Court Upholds 'Right-To-Work' Law

The West Virginia Supreme Court has upheld a so-called right-to-work law and handed a defeat to labor unions which had sought to preserve workers’ union dues.

In an opinion released Tuesday, the justices granted summary judgment to the state and overturned a February 2019 ruling by a lower court judge who had sided with the unions.

Kanawha County Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey had struck down as unconstitutional some provisions of the 2016 law, which authorized union employees to stop paying dues and fees or, in lieu of that, make payments to a charity or third party.

After the Republican-led Legislature crafted the bill, then-Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, a Democrat, vetoed it and lawmakers overrode the veto the next day, making West Virginia the 26th “right-to-work” state.

The state chapter of the AFL-CIO and other unions then filed a lawsuit, maintaining the law illegally took their assets since they still have to represent all employees in a union shop, including those that the law would allow to stop paying union dues.

The new law would have required unions and union officials “to work, to supply their valuable expertise, and to provide expensive services for nothing,” Bailey wrote.

But the state Supreme Court ruled the law “does not violate constitutional rights of association, property, or liberty.”

Proponents said the law would attract businesses and give workers more freedom over their ties to unions. Democrats argued the law was solely meant to undercut unions for political reasons, allowing workers to benefit from union representation without paying dues. Democrats also argued the economic benefits were unproven and wages would drop.

“This is a major victory for worker choice,” state Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said in a statement Tuesday. “This is not a pro-union or anti-union decision. It is a ruling that will protect workers, give them a greater voice and make unions stronger in the end.”

December 9, 1933: W. Va. Legislation Authorizes the State to Assume County Debts

On December 9, 1933, the Democrat-controlled West Virginia Legislature passed a bill authorizing the state to assume county debts for all outstanding school and road bonds. It was during the darkest days of the Great Depression. The previous year, a voter-approved constitutional amendment had limited the amount of property taxes that counties could collect. While the tax-limitation amendment helped farmers and homeowners, it also decimated local revenue collections. This new bill was intended to relieve counties of some of their burdens.

Immediately after the debt relief act was passed, however, Braxton County resident A. M. Berry filed suit, claiming the law violated the state constitution. In the three-to-two decision of Berry versus Fox, the West Virginia Supreme Court overturned the law. The justices pointed to an article in the West Virginia Constitution that prohibited the state from “assum[ing], or becom[ing] responsible for the debts or liabilities of any county, city, township, corporation, or person.”

The tax-limitation amendment and the Berry versus Fox ruling led to a sharp decline in funding for education, roads, and other public services for years to come.

W.Va. Judges Among Lowest Paid in the Country, Study Says

A state legislative panel is recommending pay raises for West Virginia judges.

The West Virginia Judicial Compensation Commission released its final report on Tuesday and said the state has some of the lowest paid judges in the country.

The report says Supreme Court, circuit and magistrate judges should get 18.3% raises. Supreme Court justices would be paid almost $161,000 under the commission’s recommendations.

The panel is also recommending that family court judges should receive a more than 20% pay increase to bring their salaries up to nearly $114,000.

The commission says the raises would bring West Virginia in line with national pay scales. The last judicial pay increase became effective in 2011.

W.Va. Supreme Court: Drilling Rights Are for Minerals Directly Below

The West Virginia Supreme Court has affirmed a lower court’s ruling in favor of landowners’ claims that a company had no right to drill on their property to access oil and gas on other lands.

The court’s ruling released Wednesday, June 6, says a mineral owner has the right to access only what’s directly below the surface. The court says “it is trespassing to go on someone’s land without the right to do so.”

A Doddridge County Circuit Court jury in 2017 awarded $180,000 to David Wentz and $10,000 to his ex-wife, Margot Beth Crowder, in their lawsuit against EQT Production.

The company held a century-old lease allowing it to drill wells to extract oil and gas from beneath the plaintiffs’ land. The plaintiffs sued to challenge the company’s use of their land to drill horizontal wells extending to neighboring properties.

Ex-West Virginia Justice Gets Probation in Corruption Probe

A former West Virginia Supreme Court justice was sentenced to three years’ probation Wednesday for using a state vehicle and gas fuel card for a golf trip to Virginia.

Menis Ketchum’s sentencing in federal court came 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, who pleaded guilty last year to a felony fraud count, also was fined $20,000 and ordered to pay $749 in restitution.

“I’m just plain guilty,” Ketchum told U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. just prior to sentencing. “And I’m sorry, but sorry’s no excuse.”

The judge said he took into account Ketchum’s age, his lack of prior criminal behavior and that he accepted responsibility for his actions — unlike former Justice Allen Loughry, who was sentenced last month to two years in federal prison in the same corruption probe.

Copenhaver also cited numerous letters written on Ketchum’s behalf, including by former Marshall University interim President Mike Farrell.

Copenhaver suggested that Ketchum use his freedom to his benefit by possibly seeking work as a paralegal. The state Supreme Court stripped Ketchum of his law license in October.

“It borders on the unfathomable that you would risk so much for so little,” Copenhaver told Ketchum, later adding, “The court recognizes your sincere regret for your conduct. This is a single blemish on a distinguished career.”

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, and used a state credit card to refuel. Court documents show Ketchum traveled to the club from 2011 through 2014.

U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart said he accepted the judge’s sentence.

“What can’t be lost here is he pleaded guilty to a felony,” Stuart said. “Public corruption of any type, of any sort, at any level is a serious infraction to the people of West Virginia.”

Impeachment

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.”

Loughry was sentenced last month for using his job for his own benefit and lying to investigators. Loughry repeatedly denied benefiting personally from trips he took when he became a justice in 2013.

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.