Archive for November, 2009
Best Method
Retain elections for judicial posts
Parkersburg News & Sentinel
November 25, 2009
Members of a special commission set up to recommend changes in the state’s court system were right to surprise some observers by failing to make a suggestion that many expected.
Gov. Joe Manchin established the Independent Commission on Judicial Reform earlier this year. It was a blue-ribbon [...]
Lawmakers interested in court study report
The Associated Press
By Lawrence Messina
November 30, 2009
CHARLESTON — West Virginia’s top lawmakers see value in changing the state’s court system as recently recommended by the governor’s Independent Commission on Judicial Reform. Whether they pursue any of its key suggestions during the upcoming session remains to be seen.
A publicly financed Supreme Court election, an intermediate appeals [...]
Appointments Political, Too
The Intelligencer
November 23, 2009
A campaign to change the process of selecting justices for the Ohio Supreme Court appears to be under way. We hope that if it results in a referendum on the question, Buckeye State voters will look past the slogans and focus on political reality.
After a two-day conference at which the matter was [...]
Recommendations a step in right direction
The Journal
November 21, 2009
Governor Manchin’s Independent Commission on Judicial Reform has recommended that the State adopt an intermediate court of appeals, a move West Virginia Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse – WV CALA – calls a significant first step toward reforming the state’s judiciary. The nine-member Commission, a mix of legal academics, defense and plaintiffs lawyers, [...]
Judiciary Report: A Starting Point
The State Journal
November 20, 2009
CHARLESTON — A commission of earnest citizens, most with backgrounds in the law, has produced a document demonstrating the complexities of governing.
Gov. Joe Manchin empowered the Independent Commission on Judicial Reform to evaluate and recommend proposals for judicial reform in West Virginia. Frankly, West Virginia’s courts have a reputation that discourages [...]
Liberals Afraid To Offend Lawyers
The Intelligencer
November 20, 2009
Most Americans understand that limits on medical malpractice lawsuits would reduce health care costs. We believe most members of Congress realize that, too. But too many liberal lawmakers don’t want to legislate medical malpractice reform because it would upset some of their most staunch supporters – trial lawyers.
According to an Associated Press [...]
Appeals Board: McGraw wasn’t representing West Virginians
The West Virginia Record
By John O’Brien
November 19, 2009
CHARLESTON – In penalizing the State of West Virginia $2.7 million, a federal appeals board also recently wrote that state Attorney General Darrell McGraw was not representing individual citizens when he sued OxyContin-maker Purdue Pharma.
Instead, the Departmental Appeals Board wrote that McGraw was representing the three state agencies [...]
Reform report draws praise across the board
The West Virginia Record
By Chris Dickerson
November 19, 2009
CHARLESTON — State and national groups have offered praise for this week’s report issued by the Independent Commission on Judicial Reform.
In the report delivered Sunday to Gov. Joe Manchin, the panel said West Virginia needs a mid-level appeals court to lighten the caseload of the state Supreme Court. [...]
Activist judges do harm to state
The Charleston Gazette
November 19, 2009
Editor:
While your recent editorial (“Circuit court: Webster outstanding”) heaped praise on one particular nominee for Kanawha County Circuit Court, the piece missed the proper role of judges in our society. Rather than assessing Delegate Carrie Webster’s specific qualifications as an attorney and/or jurist, the Gazette promotes her record of “battling” on [...]
Judicial appointments must be transparent
Charleston Daily Mail
November 19, 2009
With Judge Irene Berger’s appointment to the federal bench, West Virginians can now only hope and wait to see if her successor follows in the judge’s highly respected footsteps.
Judge Berger is widely praised as a fair and impartial judge, one of the best our county has to offer. It is important [...]
