Editorials: Bar Should Study Judicial Selection

Only six states choose justices the way West Virginians do



Charleston Daily Mail, July 22, 2004

West Virginia is one of only six states in which judges and Supreme Court justices are chosen through partisan elections. Charles M. Love III, president of the State Bar, wrote a letter urging its board of governors to study whether there is a better way.

This prompted Justice Joseph Albright to write his own letter urging the board to reject Love's suggestion. "This is not the right time for a ‘judicial selection commission,' " Albright wrote. "At least postpone it; better yet, deep-six it. If you proceed now, you are embarking on an ill-advised course at a totally inappropriate time. Please reconsider."

Instead, Albright wrote, "The failure of the State Bar to vigorously, clearly and firmly condemn the excesses in the recent primary campaign . . . suggests to me that it is time for the State Bar to focus less on the judicial selection process and more on how it has been abused by out-of-state and special interests bent on changing our fundamental West Virginia law."

Albright's wording hints at why the State Bar should look at the pros and cons of selecting judges in a nonpartisan way. Justice -- or the lack of it -- profoundly affects West Virginians . The business community made an issue of it in this year's Democratic primary, which pitted Greenbrier County Circuit Judge Jim Rowe against Justice Warren McGraw.

The private sector complains that too many court rulings reflect politics rather than even-handed law. Businesses say that endangers West Virginians ' workplaces, threatens their medical care, raises their homeowners and car insurance, bankrupts the workers' compensation system and scares off new employers.

The other special interests within West Virginia -- personal injury lawyers and organized labor -- like the state Supreme Court the way it is, controlled by justices willing to rule in their economic interests.

Businesses donated almost $800,000 to Rowe's campaign, and spent more than $1 million asking voters to support even-handed justice.

WVJusticeWatch.org, analyzing contributions larger than $250, indicates that people allied with personal injury attorneys accounted for almost 84 percent of the campaign contributions McGraw received. Those who favored McGraw also spent $520,000 on ads attacking Rowe as a tool of big business.

Under the American system, judges are not meant to be political animals responding to popular pressures. Instead, they are to be insulated from popular pressures so they can rule impartially.

The fact that groups spent $3 million trying to sway voters in the Democratic primary election argues strongly that the political pressures on "justice" should be examined. Forming a committee is not ill advised. It would be hard to think of a more appropriate time to form one.