West Virginia Court Impeachment Sets Up a Legal Showdown
http://www.wsj.com/articles/west-virginia-lawmakers-impeach-all-state-supreme-court-justices-1534225463
An impeachment of all the sitting justices on West Virginia’s highest court spurred the resignation of one of the judges and set up a dramatic legal showdown that now heads to the state’s upper legislative chamber.
The charges were handed down Monday night by the Republican-controlled House of Delegates, which voted to impeach all four of the court’s sitting justices for alleged financial abuses. The unprecedented confrontation between the judicial and legislative branches of government now moves to the Senate, which is expected to hold a trial to decide whether to convict and expel the remaining justices.
At a news conference Tuesday, one of the four impeached justices, Democrat Robin Davis, announced her resignation and accused the Legislature of staging a partisan coup against the court. The four members were split 2-2 by party; a fifth justice, Democrat Menis Ketchum, resigned from the bench last month amid charges of wire fraud, for which he agreed to plead guilty.
For months, the state’s high court has faced a widening spending scandal that has led to federal criminal charges against two of its members. Republican lawmakers say the justices exploited the court system’s unusual budgetary powers by going on a personal spending spree on the public dime.
Justices, legislators say, spent more than a $1 million to redecorate their personal offices and furnish them with pricey furniture, including a custom $32,000 blue suede couch, a $20,500 rug and an $8,000 chair.
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Mad Poet Strikes Again.
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