West Virginia needs a real right of appeal
by admin on 24/02/10 at 6:28 am
By Jan Vineyard
Charleston Daily Mail
February 24, 2010
The West Virginia Business and Industry Council strongly supports Senate Bill 589, introduced by Senate Judiciary Chairman Jeff Kessler, D-Marshall.
This legislation would provide for an intermediate court of appeals in West Virginia and offers businesses and individuals the automatic right to appeal judgments against them.
We applaud Sen. Kessler and his co-sponsors, Richard Browning, Dan Foster, Evan Jenkins, Brooks McCabe, Corey Palumbo and Herb Snyder, for crafting this essential legislation, which will afford West Virginians the same rights others enjoy in the overwhelming majority of states.
This bill would also allow West Virginia businesses and those contemplating locating here with the assurance that, if there are judgments against them, they will be able to seek full due process in our courts.
This would be a significant improvement over the existing system, where there is no right to appeal, and where the state Supreme Court of Appeals has no requirement to hear appeals.
The court has indicated that it will propose rules to allow for a more complete explanation in reviewing cases seeking appeal.
With all due respect to the court, we do not feel this will result in the type of comprehensive review that appellants are seeking in West Virginia.
