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CHARLESTON -- While most candidates in the 2020 elections hope to win their primaries in May and continue on to the November general election, the candidates in the races for West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals only have one election on their mind.
When voters go to the ballot box on May 12, they will choose three Supreme Court candidates. Two will go on to serve 12-year terms starting in January 2021 and ending in 2033. Another will serve the remaining four years of former justice Allen Loughry's term, which is up in 2024.
Since judicial races are nonpartisan, there won't be a primary and general election for Supreme Court candidates. May 12 is the only election date they'll see, giving the winner nine months to close their legal practices if they're not already judges or justices.
Ten candidates are vying for three seats on the Supreme Court. The races are divided into divisions.
In Division 1, a circuit judge and a former Supreme Court justice will challenge the winner of the 2018 special election to fill the remaining term of former justice Menis Ketchum. In Division 2, four candidates will face off to succeed retiring Justice Margaret Workman. In Division 3, an attorney and another circuit court judge will face the person appointed to replace Loughry, who resigned after a federal conviction.
DIVISION 1
Chief Justice Tim Armstead is running for the Supreme Court seat he was appointed to by Gov. Jim Justice in August 2018. He later won in the November 2018 special election.
A former 20-year member of the House of Delegates representing the Elkview area in Kanawha County, Armstead stepped down as House Speaker in 2018 in anticipation of a possible run for Supreme Court at that time.
Armstead was appointed to the Supreme Court to fill the vacancy left behind by Ketchum, who resigned just before the House Judiciary Committee started investigating the Supreme Court in an impeachment inquiry. Ketchum later pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in a federal investigation of the Supreme Court for his use of a state purchasing card for out-of-state trips using court-owned vehicles.
Much of the court's job from 2018 on was restoring the confidence and trust of the public after the resignation of Ketchum, the impeachment of the remaining justices in the summer of 2018 and the conviction of Loughry on multiple federal charges. All these incidents pertained to how the court spent money, the personal use of court resources, and the payment of senior status judges.
Since 2018, the Supreme Court has received a clean bill of health from both the Legislative Auditor and the State Auditor. There are several policies governing how the court spends money, how it catalogues inventory, the use of court equipment and vehicles and it has cut its budget while maintaining services.
"We have a new court in many ways, not only the makeup of the court, but how the courts operate," Armstead said. "I want to continue to carry forward on what we've accomplished. I think that we really did -- all of us -- set our goal of trying to do what we could do in that first year to restore the confidence of people of our state into court … we know we still have work to do."
Armstead has used his knowledge of the legislative budget-making process to work with lawmakers in crafting the court's budget. He also has traveled the state with his fellow justices to meetings, schools and public events to help make the court more open and transparent. While he is proud of these accomplishments, his passion is trying to find ways to keep children and families together.
"We have seen a tremendous increase in the number of abuse and neglect cases," Armstead said. "We need to have an approach where we work together with the Legislature, the (Department of Health and Human Resources) to try to do what we can do as court to address that.
"It's the overriding goal in all those cases to ensure that those children are in safe, healthy, loving homes. In many cases, unfortunately, they have to be removed from those homes."
Armstead has two opponents in the division. David Hummel is a circuit court judge for the 2nd Judicial Circuit serving Tyler, Wetzel and Marshall counties. He has served on the bench since elected in 2008. Prior to his election, Hummel had his own law practice and was an assistant prosecutor in Marshall County.
After working on one of the state's largest opioid litigation panels and dealing with hundreds of substance abuse cases, Hummel sees a real need to address substance abuse and behavioral health issues in the state.
"The more sophisticated the drug problem becomes, the more sophisticated we must attack it," Hummel said. "I was the first one in this state – and now a couple have followed – to go to behavioral health centers to treat it versus community corrections."
Hummel said the Supreme Court needs more geographic diversity. The majority of the justices on the bench today come from the southern half of the state. Hummel said this lack of diversity makes it hard for the court to rule on cases.
"Unique to the northern part of the state is the oil and gas industry," Hummel said. "The litigation that is tangential and related to the oil and gas industry is probably now, I'll bet you, one-third of my docket. Not only is the North underrepresented, the North of the state of West Virginia is unrepresented."
Also challenging Armstead is former justice Richard Neely. Now in his own law practice with partner Michael Callaghan, Neely served as a justice for two terms starting in 1972 until he resigned in 1995. Neely has not been on a ballot for Supreme Court since 1984, but believes he is the right person to repair the damage done by the court over the last several years.
"If you take your Ford F-150 into a garage because you have a problem with it, you need somebody who has seen an F-150 before to fix it," Neely said. "You don't try and hire a bunch of people who have never seen the inside of an F-150. The same thing is true with the courts. You have to know where the levers are that can be pulled and I'm going to tell you what they are."
Neely is concerned with how the Supreme Court hears appeals. The state supreme court adopted a rule in 2010 where they provide a written decision for every appeal. The House of Delegates has attempted to codify appeals as a matter of right in state code, while the state Senate has tried to create an intermediate court of appeals. Neely said that all these methods to hear appeals are not only wrong, but unconstitutional.
"The West Virginia Constitution … outlines how you do an appeal to the Supreme court," Neely said. "Because of this failure to follow the Constitution, it now takes between 19 and 28 months to get through the Supreme court. And in addition, it is terribly expensive for litigants … It adds up. When I say that the courts are in a shambles, I mean that the procedures have been extremely complex and unnecessarily so."
DIVISION 2
With the retirement of Workman, the first woman elected to the Supreme Court, there are four candidates – including two women – running to take her place.
Joanna Tabit of Charleston is a circuit court judge for the 13th Judicial Circuit in Kanawha County, the largest circuit in the state. Tabit was appointed as a circuit judge by former Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in 2014.
Tabit clerked for former Supreme Court Justice Thomas McHugh. She also was a state assistant attorney general from 1989 to 1992, serving two attorneys general before joining the Steptoe and Johnson law firm in 1992. But Tabit said she'll always remember a summer job she was offered by Workman.
"I can unequivocally tell you that I'm a lawyer because of Margaret Workman," Tabit said. "She was wonderful to me. She gave me opportunities to watch her. She mentored me. She took the time to teach me as a college student how to do legal research. That's when I made up my mind to go to law school."
Tabit said it's important for a circuit judge to be on the state's highest court. It's possible after the May 12 election that no members of the court will be former judges. Tabit said the Supreme Court needs that perspective not only for the cases it rules on, but for managing the entire judicial system.
"It's critical for a Supreme Court justice to have served as a circuit judge. I think now more than ever, our court needs proven qualified judges, and I'm one of them," Tabit said. "I spent my entire professional life in a courtroom, so I've seen all kinds of issues both from the position as courtroom counsel and the position of judge."
Tabit is not the only judge in the Division 2 race. Jim Douglas is a family court judge serving the 11th family court circuit in Kanawha County since his election in 2016. Douglas maintained his own legal practice for a time and he also served as the prosecuting attorney for Braxton County from 1985 to 1988.
As a family court judge, Douglas sees first-hand the issues caused by broken families. Douglas' court deals with divorces, child separations, custody battles between parents and grandparents and domestic violence civil proceedings.
"More people are affected by family law issues than any others," Douglas said. "I'm the only Supreme Court candidate who has a substantial background in family law that I can bring to the table … I want to restore family law to its preeminence, its proper place in consideration of this West Virginia Supreme court of appeals."
Putnam County Assistant Prosecutor Kristina "Kris" Raynes hopes to use her experience on the other side of the bench -- arguing cases before judges -- as an asset in her race for Workman's seat.
"I went to her inauguration when she was first sworn in as a Supreme Court justice," Raynes said. "I was a freshman in high school … I was really excited to see a woman be sworn in."
Raynes has worked for the Putnam County Prosecuting Attorney's Office for 12 years. Before that, Raynes was an assistant U.S. Attorney and an attorney in the Summit County, Ohio, prosecutor's office.
"The court is in a time of transition, and maybe my perspective would be good at this time," Raynes said. "My philosophy and ideology is that we interpret the law. I'm a big fan of separation of powers, checks and balances. I feel that as far as my role is concerned, we are the umpires. We are the people that interpret the laws. I will not be an activist judge. I will not be legislating from the bench."
Former legislator William "Bill" Wooten is making his second attempt at a Supreme Court run. Wooten, a retired colonel with the U.S. Army Reserve and the West Virginia National Guard, served in the state Senate from 1990 to 2000 and served several terms in the House of Delegates, most recently between 2008 and 2010. During his time in the Senate, Wooten served as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. He attempted a run for Supreme Court in 2016, coming in third behind former state Attorney General Darrell McGraw and Beth Walker.
Wooten said his many years in private practice and his time helping craft the laws that the Supreme Court bases its decisions on are key skills that set him apart from the other candidates.
"I've got a lot of experience in laws that affect the judiciary and that come before the judges," Wooten said. "I'm the only one that's currently not on a public payroll. I'm in the private sector. My experience as a practicing attorney of submit is probably broader than any other candidate. I've just engaged in more different types of law than any of the other candidates."
While he believes that the substance abuse crisis would be better dealt with by the executive branch, Wooten sees the need for the judicial branch to continue its substance abuse treatment programs, such as the drug courts and now the family treatment courts.
"It's unfortunate that the court would have to deal with that, but it is such a pervasive problem throughout the state that every entity that has an opportunity to make an impact I think has an obligation to do so," Wooten said. "The court obviously has the opportunity to come up with some fairly effective programs. The drug court is, to my mind, the most effective way to deal with substance abuse problems in this state."
DIVISION 3
Candidates running in Division 3 will serve the remainder of a term, a vacancy caused when Loughry, the former chief justice of the Supreme Court, resigned. The seat will be up for election again for a full 12-year term in 2024.
Loughry was convicted Oct. 12, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia of 11 counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud, witness tampering, and making false statements to investigators. Loughry was accused of taking an antique desk from the Supreme Court for his home, using court laptops for personal use, and taking numerous personal trips across the state and to out-of-state with a court-owned vehicle.
Former Raleigh County Circuit Court Judge John Hutchison was appointed by Justice at the end of 2018 after Loughry resigned. Hutchison served 23 years as a circuit judge after first being appointed in 1995 by former governor Gaston Caperton and winning election in 1996. During his time as a judge, Hutchison closed more than 22,500 cases.
Hutchison said his goal after being appointed to the Supreme Court was to try to clean up the mess that Loughry left behind.
"My major goal was to try and come down here and assist in putting this back together," Hutchison said. "I felt like I had the reputation. I think generally everybody thought that I was fair, I was prepared, and I gave everybody a decent hearing."
Now that the issues of 2018 are in the court's rearview mirror, Hutchison said he still has much he wants to do as a justice.
"I'm running for this extra four years to make sure that I am able to not necessarily finish, but make sure that the repair and the restoration of integrity, the restoration of trust is well on its way," Hutchison said. "I think we've done a great job in this last year of doing that, but only because every one of us have agreed that we need to be out with the public."
Challenging Hutchison is Lora Dyer, a judge for the Fifth Judicial Circuit in Calhoun, Jackson, Mason, and Roane counties. She was first elected in 2016, and has served as a law clerk to several judges and a former Supreme Court justice. She also was an assistant prosecutor in Kanawha County and worked for the State Auditor's Office.
"I have great knowledge of the Constitution when it comes to the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch," Dyer said. "I bring that to the table where a lot of the other candidates might not."
Also facing Hutchison is William Schwartz of Charleston, a practicing attorney with experience in personal injury and asbestos cases. Schwartz was named as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in West Virginia by the National Trial Lawyers Association in the fields of asbestos and mesothelioma cases, and has helped craft mesothelioma legislation. He was also named a "Litigation Star" by Benchmark Litigation.
Schwartz was one of the candidates in the 2018 special election for Supreme Court for the seat that Justice Evan Jenkins, a former Republican 3rd District Congressman, was appointed to after former justice Robin Davis resigned following her impeachment.
Schwartz was angry in 2018 about the negative reputation of the court following the news of Loughry's spending. This year, Schwartz is pleased with the reforms of the court, but he wants to bring to the court the perspective of small-firm attorneys.
"I do bring a different perspective, especially now in this campaign and any other candidate," Schwartz said. "I spent my entire 33-year career as a trial lawyer representing injured workers and families and widows here in West Virginia. I know what it's like to hold a hand of a widow who's never been in a courtroom before them and will never be in a courtroom again."