High Court: Law comes first

Bluefield Daily Telegraph Oct. 25, 2009

BLUEFIELD — While working to promote a balanced and fair interpretation of the law, members of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals also are hoping to boost public confidence in the high court.

“Frankly, our court was held in low esteem and the people felt the court was making decisions on cases based on who the litigants were,” Justice Menis Ketchum said. Ketchum, along with Justice Thomas E. McHugh, met with members of the Daily Telegraph’s editorial board last week following a stop in Mercer County for a drug-court graduation ceremony in Princeton.

Ketchum said the five justices have been working hard to boost public confidence in the high court. However, all final decisions made by the high court must be based on the law — and not what is popular or requested by a particular party or the public.

“The first time we make a decision based on what the public wants, some lawyer wants or some friends want, we might as well shut the door,” Ketchum said.

“The more silent the Supreme Court, the more effective,” McHugh said. McHugh was appointed by Gov. Joe Manchin to serve on the high court until the 2010 general election following the death of Justice Joseph Albright. “That is what we are trying to do. The court is not in the news. We five justices can accept criticism of an opinion. We work really hard to make sure we follow the law.”

Both believe the high court is moving in the right direction.

“We hear it all over the state,” Ketchum said. “Everybody says you guys are doing a good job. The court is balanced. You are deciding the cases based on the law versus having a friend or political agenda.”

“If you ask any lawyer when they come up in the Supreme Court, they will tell you they are treated very civilly,” McHugh said. “They are listened to. They feel they have a chance (to win their case).”

When asked about the election of judges, both Ketchum and McHugh acknowledge there are no easy answers to the frequent question.

“I just don’t know that there is a good answer,” Ketchum said.

Ketchum said he previously was a strong advocate of appointing judges because of the large amount of money that must be expended to get elected to the high court. He has since had a change of opinion.

“I think people have a right to elect judges,” Ketchum said. “The only problem is the amount of money that has to be spent to get elected. I felt like the amount of money you have to spend was outrageous. I still think it is outrageous.”

Moving from a partisan to non-partisan contest still wouldn’t change the amount of money that has to be expended by a candidate to get elected to the high court, according to Ketchum.

“It takes a tremendous amount of money to win a contested election,” McHugh added.

If the positions are appointed, the decisions are then removed from the voters and placed in the hands of the executive branch, according to McHugh.

“What I find in going around in West Virginia is most people say they want to vote on it,” McHugh said of the election of judges.

Lawmakers are still awaiting a report from a governor’s commission that is expected to address the hot-topic issue, Delegate John Frazier, D-Mercer, said.

Frazier said the report could be finished by November. He said the final recommendations to come out of the report could be addressed by Gov. Joe Manchin during his January state-of-the state address.

Balancing the law, and what the public may want or expect, is never easy for the high court.

“You have to be true to yourself,” McHugh said. “Nobody will ever agree with all of the decisions of the Supreme Court. “It’s just not going to happen.”

When asked about the high court’s caseload, McHugh said it is stable — although the cases today are more complex than those of several years ago. McHugh said workers compensation cases still consume a large portion of the caseload.

While there has been talk in the past of creating an intermediary court to handle the backlog of workers compensation cases, any ruling by such a lower court would still most likely be appealed back to the high court, McHugh said.