The I-word
Don’t step on my blue suede couch
AND HERE you thought the Arkansas Supreme Court had a PR problem.
Over in West Virginia, an impeachment proceeding is underway. And it’s a doozy. Four of the state’s Supreme Court justices had articles of impeachment brought against them by the West Virginia House of Delegates. Four! One retired on hearing the news. Now the fate of the remaining justices is in the hands of the Senate.
How many justices are on the West Virginia Supreme Court?
Five. Another justice had already resigned only last month—and admitted to charges of wire fraud. The House, in effect, impeached every remaining sitting member of the court.
The Wall Street Journal reports these justices are accused of spending more than $1 million to redecorate their offices, among other, uh, PR problems. Questionable purchases include a custom $32,000 blue suede couch, a $20,500 rug and an $8,000 chair. It turns out, that particular state Supreme Court has the ability to set its own budget. Neat. And atypical.
From the Journal: “Impeachment articles also accused various judges of splurging on lunches, misusing state-issued vehicles and computer equipment, and authorizing unlawful payments to senior-status judges no longer on full-time duty. The impeachment also faulted justices for a failure of oversight that it said led to excesses.”
Evidence should be pretty easy on most of this stuff.
Now we’re sure these justices will hire smart lawyers to help them (they probably know a few) but defenses are already being mounted:
Supreme Court Justice Robin Davis, a Democrat, announced her resignation after impeachment and immediately accused the legislature (controlled by Republicans) of starting a partisan coup. Sorry, we’re confused here. What does the party affiliation of legislative accusers have to do with a the judiciary’s mismanagement of taxpayer dollars?
(NB: Democrats in the House of Delegates opposed impeachment of justices from their own party, but they were all in favor of impeaching Republicans.)
Liberal lawmakers in West Virginia have decried the articles of impeachment as legislative overreach. But it sounds more like the political system at work—and working.