Reports of corruption, lavish overspending, and abuses of authority on the part of West Virginia’s four sitting Supreme Court justices have dominated area headlines in recent months — and state lawmakers have finally decided to do something about it.
All four of West Virginia’s Supreme Court justices were impeached by a vote in the state House of Delegates on Monday.
Overstepping their bounds
According to The Hill, all four justices were impeached for abusing their authority. Two of them were also impeached for overspending taxpayer money on office renovations, and one was also impeached for using state-owned equipment and vehicles for personal activities.
Justice Allen Loughry was impeached on eight separate counts that included spending more than $363,000 on office renovations, as well as for transferring a $42,000 antique desk and state-owned computers to his home. He was also charged with using state-owned vehicles for personal use and for lying to members of the House Finance Committee about the issues.
Aside from being impeached from the court, Loughry faces other trouble in the form of a federal indictment on multiple felony counts that include mail and wire fraud, lying to federal investigators, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, among others, according to NBC News.
Justice Robin Davis was impeached for her abuse of authority and for spending more than $500,000 on office renovations.
More scandal
Chief Justice Margaret Workman and Justice Beth Workman were let off the hook for the cost of their own office renovations — $111,000 and $131,000, respectively — but were nevertheless impeached for abuse of authority.
At issue for Workman was her signing off on allowing senior status judges to receive higher wages than were allowed by state law.
A former justice who would have been the fifth sitting justice — and likely would have been impeached along with the others — was Menis Ketchum, who resigned from the bench in disgrace in July and has since pleaded guilty to one count of federal wire fraud.
The impeachment process will now move to the state Senate for a trial with Circuit Judge Paul T. Farrell specially sworn in to serve as chief justice temporarily. The trial should begin in September, though a clear timeline for the procedure has yet to be set.
[show_poll poll_id=720]
Should the four justices ultimately be found guilty and removed from office by the state Senate, West Virginia’s Republican Gov. Jim Justice will be allowed to appoint justices to replace them who would serve until at least 2020, at which point new elections would be held. Had the justices been impeached prior to August 14, their seats would have been placed on this year’s ballot.
These four state supreme court justices are all alleged to have abused the authority vested in them and wasted taxpayer money on frivolous and personal expenses — and evidently, corruption like that simply won’t be tolerated in West Virginia.
1,009 Responses
This page definitely has all of the information and facts I wanted about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
Hi there! This post couldn’t be written any better! Looking through this article reminds me of my previous roommate! He continually kept talking about this. I will forward this information to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing!
I just want to tell you that I am just all new to weblog and seriously savored your web-site. More than likely I’m planning to bookmark your website . You certainly have remarkable well written articles. Cheers for sharing your web page.
Nice post. I learn something totally new and challenging on blogs I stumbleupon every day. It’s always interesting to read through articles from other writers and practice something from other sites.
Hey there! I simply wish to give you a huge thumbs up for the great info you’ve got right here on this post. I will be coming back to your site for more soon.
You are so interesting! I do not believe I’ve read anything like that before. So nice to find somebody with original thoughts on this topic. Really.. thanks for starting this up. This website is one thing that’s needed on the web, someone with some originality!
I just want to mention I am just very new to blogs and really savored you’re website. Most likely I’m want to bookmark your blog post . You absolutely come with great article content. Kudos for sharing with us your blog site.
This web site certainly has all the info I wanted about this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
I’m amazed, I must say. Rarely do I come across a blog that’s both equally educative and amusing, and let me tell you, you’ve hit the nail on the head. The issue is something which not enough men and women are speaking intelligently about. I am very happy that I came across this in my hunt for something regarding this.
Can I just say what a relief to find a person that really understands what they’re discussing on the net. You actually understand how to bring a problem to light and make it important. More and more people must check this out and understand this side of the story. I was surprised that you are not more popular because you most certainly have the gift.
284557 861762This internet site is my aspiration, extremely excellent style and style and Perfect subject matter. 830444
There is certainly a great deal to know about this topic. I really like all the points you made.
Wonderful article! We are linking to this particularly great post on our website. Keep up the great writing.
I love it whenever people get together and share views. Great website, keep it up!
Right here is the perfect web site for everyone who really wants to understand this topic. You know so much its almost tough to argue with you (not that I personally will need to…HaHa). You certainly put a brand new spin on a subject that’s been discussed for decades. Excellent stuff, just great!
You made some decent points there. I looked on the web for additional information about the issue and found most people will go along with your views on this web site.
bookmarked!!, I really like your web site!
There’s certainly a great deal to find out about this topic. I love all of the points you have made.
It’s hard to come by knowledgeable people in this particular subject, however, you seem like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks
Howdy, I believe your blog could possibly be having web browser compatibility issues. Whenever I look at your site in Safari, it looks fine however, when opening in IE, it’s got some overlapping issues. I merely wanted to provide you with a quick heads up! Apart from that, fantastic blog!
Greetings, I believe your web site might be having browser compatibility issues. Whenever I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in I.E., it has some overlapping issues. I just wanted to provide you with a quick heads up! Aside from that, excellent site!
Your style is so unique compared to other people I’ve read stuff from. Thanks for posting when you have the opportunity, Guess I will just bookmark this web site.
A fascinating discussion is worth comment. I believe that you should publish more on this subject, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people don’t discuss these issues. To the next! Kind regards!!
Hello, I log on to your blogs like every week. Your humoristic style is witty, keep up the good work!|
925830 910959jobs for high school students – Search for Jobs on our web site, we provide several excellent links to the very best and biggest Portals to getting a Job as a high school student! 794511
Shop; Unique Functions. Simple Product Layouts. Post with review. Advanced Product Layout. Best conversion pages. Frontend Search · Listing example …
Welcome to iBeautys Best, iBeautys Best is the number one destination for Latest Beauty Products. Here you can easily buy your desired product from all over the world with very reasonable price.
very easy to understand explanation. fits me perfectly. from now on I will be your fan
David-Home Northeast is your premier source for all of your Real Estate investing needs. We provide a variety of solutions for sellers looking to sell fast and investors looking to grow their real estate investment portfolios for better returns. At David-Home Northeast, we are dedicated to improving and redeveloping the areas that we operate in. We specialize in helping sellers of distressed properties (single and multi-family homes, commercial, retail, bank REOs, etc.) find buyers looking to invest. Let us put our network of cash home buyers and private money lenders to work for you so you can say “David” to that old unwanted property.
Natural Releaf CBD | New York CBD Store with locations in Murray Hill, NY | Upper East Side, NY | White Plains, NY Serving New York City, NY and Westchester, NY High Quality CBD Products With Lab Test
BUY CHEAP IBOGAINHow much ibogaine dosage should I take
Best view i have ever seen !
Love watching sunset !
Love watching sunset !
entrepreneurs
999804 524426Wonderful site, determined several something totally new! Subscribed RSS for later, aspire to see a lot more updates exactly like it. 25264
Love watching sunset !
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this write-up and the rest of the website is also very good.|
Best view i have ever seen !
I was wondering if you ever considered changing the page layout of your site? Its very well written; I love what youve got to say. But maybe you could a little more in the way of content so people could connect with it better. Youve got an awful lot of text for only having 1 or two images. Maybe you could space it out better?