Entire W.Va. Supreme Court faces impeachment

Former chief justice could get up to 405 years in prison if convicted on 23 counts

The desks went missing in the Mountain State.

Not just any desks. These were state heirlooms named for Cass Gilbert, the prominent American architect who designed the state capitol in Charleston, W.Va., selecting the walnut workstations for the chambers of the state Supreme Court almost a century ago. He would later design the United States Supreme Court.

There were supposed to be 10 of them, five for the court’s five justices, elected to 12-year terms, and five for their assistants. But local media, poking around last fall, could only account for seven desks, including the one that had recently gone from the home of the then-chief justice, Allen Loughry II, to a nearby court warehouse.

But wait, why was the desk, state property valued at $42,000, at the judge’s private residence in the first place? And now that you mention it, what about that leather couch that had left his home for the warehouse three days earlier?

Federal investigators believe they have answers to these questions — answers that form the basis of a 23-count indictment charging Loughry, a Republican, with fraud, witness tampering, lying to a federal agent and obstruction of justice. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to 405 years in prison and a fine of $5.75 million. He pleaded not guilty and was suspended without pay in June.

But it’s not just Loughry, 48, whose future on the court is in doubt.

A West Virginia House panel moved this week to impeach the state’s entire Supreme Court. Fourteen articles of impeachment, which will go to the full House of Delegates for a vote, allege corruption, maladministration, incompetence, neglect of duty and potential criminal behavior — impeachable offenses under Article IV, Section 9 of the West Virginia Constitution. Twothirds of the Senate must vote to convict. Both houses are Republican-controlled.

A possible complication, testifying to the sweep of the alleged wrongdoing, is the constitutional provision that the court’s chief justice — or another member of the top court — presides over the Senate when the upper chamber tries impeachments. In this circumstance, no judge would be available, as four are implicated. The fifth seat was vacated when Menis Ketchum II, a Democrat, resigned in July, days before he was accused of federal wire fraud. He became embroiled in controversy after an audit found that he may have improperly used state vehicles for personal purposes, according to local news reports. He is pleading guilty.

“This is truly a sad day for West Virginia, but it is an important step forward if we are going to restore the public’s confidence in the judiciary,” the Judiciary Committee’s chairman, John Shott, a Republican, said in a news release after the panel’s vote. “This committee did not take this effort lightly. After reviewing all the evidence available to us, it became clear that a culture of entitlement and disregard for both the law and taxpayer funds have damaged the reputation of our judicial system — and that all justices had a part in violating the public’s trust.”

The other three justices are Margaret Workman, the current chief, as well as Robin Davis and Beth Walker. Each is accused of “unnecessary and lavish spending” on renovation of their offices, travel budgets and “regular lunches from restaurants,” among other expenses, as well as failure to carry out administrative duties and properly develop guidelines for the use of public resources. Davis and Workman are also charged with approving the payment of senior judges in excess of the state’s legal limit. Loughry faces a slew of charges, from misuse of state property to deception under oath.

None of the four returned requests for comment sent late Thursday by the

Washington Post. Loughry has called some of the allegations of excessive spending “outrageous.” Workman, reacting in April to the release of the audit calling into question practices by Loughry and Ketchum, said “the policies going forward are going to be much tighter,” according to the Associated Press.