What’s next for W.Va. courts?
by admin on 15/06/09 at 7:03 am
Parkersburg News & Sentinel
June 14, 2009
Your piece (“Buying Justice?” June 10) puts in proper perspective the many issues that have been raised by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Caperton v. Massey. While many people want to make this issue about some individuals, your paper correctly notes that the problem is much larger than that.
West Virginia is one of only a handful of states that elects its judges through partisan elections. Candidates for our courts are routinely put in the position of raising campaign contributions from the parties and lawyers that appear before them in court. During last year’s state Supreme Court elections, attorneys contributed more than $700,000 to court candidates – an amount which may or may not create a “probability of bias” under the U.S. Supreme Court’s vague Caperton standard.
