Critics say plan to reform courts not enough
by admin on 15/01/10 at 6:28 am
Charleston Daily Mail
By Ry Rivard
January 15, 2010
Several efforts to reform West Virginia’s court system are now fully backed by Gov. Joe Manchin, although supporters of court reform say the plans do not go far enough and critics argue the changes may do little to change things.
In his Wednesday State of the State address, Manchin said West Virginia should begin publicly financing Supreme Court elections and create a formal system to fill court vacancies.
The recommendations come in part from the state’s 10-member Independent Commission on Judicial Reform, which was created by Manchin and co-chaired by former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor. The panel released its full findings late last year.
Manchin also announced that the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals is working on a “major reform” that will change the way it handles appeals from lower courts.
To combat the perception of an unfair judicial system, Manchin is backing a bill that will create a public financing pilot project for the two Supreme Court seats that will be open in 2012. Justice Robin Davis and Justice Thomas McHugh, both Democrats, currently hold those seats.
The goal is to relieve judges from the burden of political fundraising and to reduce the potential for appearance of bias as a result of campaign donations, Manchin said.
Supporters of public financing say it prevents judges from pandering to would-be donors.
But critics say the changes are unlikely to stop and could potentially increase third-party campaign spending. It was such third-party expenditures that Massey CEO Don Blankenship made when he contributed $3 million to an independent group to help defeat former Justice Warren McGraw. That spending spree helped elect current Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin.
“Public financing of the Supreme Court races, I don’t think that’s going to work,” said Senate Majority Leader Truman Chafin, D-Mingo.
Chafin said restricting speech could be problematic because it’s “maybe not constitutional to keep people from spending their own money.”
Benjamin said after the governor’s speech that public financing is something that will take some time to look at.
“It is being used in North Carolina and, I think, Wisconsin, and some people are very strong supporters and others are thinking it is not working as well in the long run as they hoped it would,” Benjamin said.
Several lawmakers were also interested in the Supreme Court’s decision to change how it handles appeals from lower courts, a shift that could be the most significant in 35 years.
