Lavish court spending in W. Va triggers scandal

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A $42,000 antique desk. A $32,000 blue suede sectional sofa. A $7,500 inlaid wooden floor map of West Virginia’s 55 counties.

A scandal involving lavish office renovations and other financial abuses by the highest court in West Virginia has triggered an extraordinary move by one branch of government to essentially fire another.

The West Virginia House of Delegates on Monday impeached four justices of the state Supreme Court on charges of extravagant spending and other misconduct, setting the stage for a Senate trial that could lead to their removal.

One of those impeached retired Tuesday, averting the prospect of sitting through a proceeding that is sure to explore the justices’ fancy tastes in embarrassing detail. And the court’s fifth member retired under pressure last month.

Some Democrats have decried the impeachment drive against the elected justices as a power grab by the Republican-controlled House and Senate, strategically timed to allow GOP Gov. Jim Justice to name their temporary replacements.

Republican Delegate John Shott, who oversaw the House Judiciary Committee hearings that drew up the articles of impeachment, said the court’s spending of more than $3 million in office renovations came at a time when the state made tens of millions of dollars in budget cuts.