2012 Annual Report West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals

150 Pages·2013·9.33 MB·English

West Virginia
Court System
2012 Annual Report
Honorable Menis E. Ketchum
Chief Justice
Honorable Robin Jean Davis
Honorable Brent D. Benjamin
Honorable Margaret L. Workman
Honorable Thomas E. McHugh
Justices
Rory L. Perry II
Clerk of Court
Steven D. Canterbury
Administrative Director
Editor
Jennifer Bundy, Public Information Officer,
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
Assistant Editors
April Harless, Public Information Specialist,
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
Vaughan Summers, Assistant Clerk
Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
Statistical Analyst
Autumn Johnson, Senior Analyst,
Division of Court Services
Graphic Design
Michael Switzer, DesignWorks
Cover photos and inside credits page photo provided
by Thorney Lieberman
Photo details of county courthouses on pages 89-144
by Michael Switzer and Jeff Genter
Published by the Administrative Office
of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia
1900 Kanawha Blvd. E. • State Capitol
Building One, Room E-100 • Charleston, WV 25305
Phone: [phone]
TTY: 304-558-4219 • Fax: [phone]
W V C s
est iRginiA ouRt ystem
2012 Contents
51 Court Security
52 In Memoriam
53-55 Election Results
56-58 Other Judicial Changes
59 Transitions
60-63 Awards
64 Association Officers
65 Court Conferences
66-67 Janie Moore Profile
68 Roster of Circuit Court Judges
5-9 Supreme Court Justices 23 Business Court
69 Overview of Circuit Courts
10-11 Clerk Becomes Justice 24-25 Mass Litigation Panel
70-74 Circuit Court Statistics
26-27 Judicial Truancy Programs
75 Roster of Family Court Judges
28-29 Special Projects Division
76-77 Overview of Family Courts
30 Justice Reinvestment Initiative
78-79 Family Court Statistics
31 Access to Justice Commission
80 Overview of
32 State Law Library
Magistrate Courts
33-34 Children’s Services
81-83 Magistrate Court Statistics
12-13 Justice McHugh Celebrated 35 Guardians ad litem
84-85 Courthouse Facilities
14 Judicial System Flow Chart 36-37 LAWS Improvement Authority
15 Supreme Court 38-39 West Virginia Law Adventure 86-88 New Facilities
Administrative Office
40-41 Robes to Schools
16 Court System Budget
42-44 Supreme Court Outreach
17 Court System Expenditures
45 Probation Services
18-20 Supreme Court Statistical Report
46-47 Problem-Solving Courts
21 Visiting Judges
48-49 Mental Hygiene
22 Supreme Court Boards and
t 50 Court Technology
R Committees
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145-148 Supreme Court Restoration
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Chief Justice Menis E. Ketchum
Chief Justice Menis E. Ketchum was elected to a full twelve-year term of the Supreme Court of Appeals
on November 4, 2008. Chief Justice Ketchum was born in 1943 in Huntington, West Virginia, and was
raised in Wayne County. He was educated in Wayne County public schools before attending Ohio University
in Athens, Ohio, where he played varsity baseball and was a member of the 1964 Mid-American Conference
Championship Baseball Team. Chief Justice Ketchum returned to West Virginia to attend West Virginia
University College of Law. While in law school he was a contributing writer and associate editor of the West
Virginia Law Review. He received his law degree in 1967 and returned to Huntington to join his father, Chad
W. Ketchum (1911-1998), in the practice of law with the firm of Greene, Ketchum & Baker. He practiced at
that firm and its successors, eventually becoming the senior partner, until his election to the Court. Chief
Justice Ketchum's law practice included insurance defense, personal injury, and criminal defense. He
was recognized continuously from 1989 to 2008 in The Best Lawyers in America and was a member of the
Leading Honoraries, the American College of Trial Lawyers, and the American Board of Trial Advocates.
Photo by Steve Payne
Throughout his legal career he published legal articles and presented numerous continuing legal education
seminars. Chief Justice Ketchum also served as a member of the Board of Governors of Marshall University
from 2002 until his campaign for the Court, and served as Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Board from
2003 until 2008. At the time of his election to the Court, he served on the Boards of the Public Defender
Corporations for the Sixth and Twenty-Fourth Judicial Circuits. He previously served on the Huntington
Urban Renewal Authority, participated in the statewide Vision Shared Health Care Team, and the Governor's
Mine Safety Task Force. Chief Justice Ketchum has been married to the former Judy Varnum since 1966.
They have three children – Kelli Morgan, Bert Ketchum, and Chad Ketchum – and six grandchildren.
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Justice Robin Jean Davis
Justice Robin Jean Davis was born in Boone County, West Virginia, on April 6, 1956. She is married to Scott
Segal, and they have one son, Oliver. She received her bachelor’s degree from West Virginia Wesleyan College in
1978, and her master’s degree and law degree from West Virginia University in 1982. She was engaged in the private
practice of law from 1982 until 1996 at the six-person law firm of Segal and Davis, L.C. She concentrated in the field
of employee benefits and domestic relations. In 1993, she became the first lawyer in West Virginia to be inducted
into the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. In 1991, the Supreme Court of Appeals appointed her to the
seven-person West Virginia Board of Law Examiners, on which she served until her election to the Supreme Court
in 1996. She initially was elected to an unexpired term and was re-elected in November 2000 and November 2012
to full twelve-year terms. Justice Davis served as Chief Justice in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2007, and 2010. Under her
leadership as Chief Justice in 2010, the Court approved Revised Rules of Appellate Procedure, which modernize and
comprehensively change the appellate process in West Virginia to provide a decision on the merits in every case. The
Court in 2010 also approved new Rules of Juvenile Procedure. Justice Davis is the Supreme Court’s designee to the
Judiciary’s Initiative on Truancy, and in that role she has held dozens of public meetings to encourage collaborative
community truancy programs. In her terms as Chief Justice, she initiated a number of programs which have proven
to be essential to the Court’s continuing work with children and families and that have allowed the Judicial Branch
Photo by Steve Payne
to remain current with the constant changes in technology. These initiatives include the Workers' Compensation
Mediation Program; the expansion of parent education programs; Rules on Mass Litigation; the expansion of
courtroom technology, including the video initial appearance pilot project; the creation of the West Virginia Trial
Court Rules; the establishment of an online Child Abuse and Neglect database; and additions to legal rules governing
child abuse and neglect proceedings. In 2007 she led the West Virginia delegation to the National Judicial Leadership
Summit in New York City, and she was responsible for the Court using a competitive federal grant to initiate the West
Virginia Domestic Violence Registry. Under her guidance, the Supreme Court Administrative Office also received
other major grants which have been used to improve the way the court system handles abuse and neglect cases. She
expanded the Supreme Court's outreach efforts by taking the Court for the first time in recent years to Wheeling and
Charles Town, the beginning of what are now regular out-of-Charleston argument dockets. She established the LAWS
program for high school students and the Robes to Schools program for all West Virginia school students. In 2000,
Justice Davis received the Distinguished West Virginian Award from then-Governor Cecil H. Underwood. In 2008 she
received the Graduate of Distinction Award from the West Virginia Education Alliance. Justice Davis is the author of
several West Virginia Law Review articles, including “A Tribute to Franklin D. Cleckley: A Compendium of Essential
Legal Principles from his Opinions as a Justice on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals”; “A Tribute to Thomas
E. McHugh: An Encyclopedia of Legal Principles from his Opinions as a Justice on the West Virginia Supreme Court
of Appeals”; and "An Analysis of the Development of Admitting Expert Testimony in Federal Courts and the Impact
of that Development on West Virginia Jurisprudence." She is the co-author with Louis J. Palmer, Jr., of "Punitive
Damages Law in West Virginia” and “Workers’ Compensation Litigation in West Virginia: Assessing the Impact of the
m Rule of Liberality and the Need for Fiscal Reform." She is the co-author with former Justice Cleckley and Mr. Palmer
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Justice Brent D. Benjamin
Justice Brent D. Benjamin was elected to a twelve-year term on the Supreme Court of Appeals
in November 2004. He is a native of Marietta, Ohio. Justice Benjamin is a graduate of The Ohio State
University, from which he holds both a bachelor’s degree and a law degree. After graduation from law
school in 1984, he settled in Charleston, West Virginia. Since his election, Justice Benjamin has been
a regular presenter and instructor on a variety of legal issues in various forums, including the National
Press Club in Washington, D.C. As part of Constitution Day activities in 2009, he moderated a symposium
on “Blogging and the First Amendment” at Marshall University. When Justice Benjamin served as Chief
Justice in 2009, the Court accomplished several initiatives, including establishing an Access to Justice
Commission, a Compliance Committee on Prisons and Jails, an acclaimed statewide Domestic Violence
Registry, a statewide Mental Hygiene Registry, and a Northern Panhandle Re-Entry Court. In 2009,
the Court also expanded pre-incarceration Treatment Courts, including Drug Courts, from a handful of
counties to coverage of over half the state’s population. As Chief Justice, Justice Benjamin was active in
Bar-related matters and on children’s issues and drug abuse issues. He led West Virginia’s delegations
to the 2009 Children’s Summit and to the 2009 Drug Court Professionals Summit. He spoke at regional
meetings of the West Virginia State Bar; he participated in regional Judicial Roundtables on Child Abuse
and Neglect and in regional Summits on Domestic Violence and Firearms; and he worked to enhance Photo by Rick Lee
and expand court outreach, judge-media relations, and public education about the role of the judicial
branch. During his time as Chief Justice, the Court issued an educational DVD, The Foundation of Justice:
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. Before his election, Justice Benjamin was a principal
attorney with Robinson and McElwee, PLLC, in Charleston. His twenty-year practice at that firm involved
general civil litigation in state and federal courts, including toxic torts and complex litigation. His civil
rights practice focused on protecting children from physical and sexual abuse. He has practiced in the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the United States District Court for the Southern
District of West Virginia, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, and before various courts in
the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Justice Benjamin is a 1999 graduate of Leadership West Virginia. Away
from his judicial duties, Justice Benjamin is also a current member of the Hocking College Archaeological
Mission and the Amenmesse Project, and he has participated in archaeological excavations in the
United States and Egypt, including the recent re-excavation of Tomb TT-320 (the “Royal Cache Tomb”)
and, currently, KV10 and KV63 (the first intact tomb to be discovered in the Valley of the Kings since
the discovery of the tomb of Pharoah Tutankhamun). Justice Benjamin attends Christ Church United
Methodist, in Charleston. He is the father of Paul, Mary, Laura, Amanda, and Evan.
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Justice Margaret L. Workman
Justice Margaret L. Workman was elected to the Supreme Court of Appeals in November 2008.
She previously was elected to the Court in 1988, when she became the first woman elected to the
Court and the first woman elected to statewide office in West Virginia. Justice Workman was born in
Charleston, the daughter of Mary Emma Thomas Workman and Frank Eugene Workman, a coal miner
whose ancestors were among the first settlers of Boone County. Justice Workman attended Kanawha
County public schools and was the first in her family to go to college. She attended West Virginia
University and West Virginia University College of Law. After she received her law degree in 1974, she
served as assistant counsel to the majority of the U.S. Senate Public Works Committee, the chairman
of which was Senator Jennings Randolph of West Virginia. She returned to West Virginia to work as
a law clerk to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit (Kanawha County). In 1976, she served as an advance
person in the Carter Presidential Campaign, and she later worked on the campaign staff of U.S.
Senator Jay Rockefeller. She then opened her own law office in Charleston. In 1981, Justice Workman
became the youngest circuit court judge in the state when then-Governor Jay Rockefeller appointed
Photo by Rick Lee her to the Kanawha County Circuit Court. She ran for the unexpired term in 1982 and the full term
in 1984. As a circuit judge, Justice Workman inherited West Virginia's largest backlog of cases and
during her tenure on the court reduced it to the lowest in the circuit. She held more jury trials than
any other circuit judge in the state during the same period. She also visited every prison and secure
juvenile correctional facility in West Virginia. Justice Workman served as Chief Justice in 1993, 1997,
and 2011. In her capacity as Chief Justice during her first term on the Court, she fostered a close
working relationship between the court system and domestic violence programs, and she visited
many shelters to learn how the court system could be more effective in addressing domestic violence.
She created the Task Force on Gender Fairness in the Courts and the Task Force on the Future of the
Judiciary; she formed the Broadwater Committee, which made reforms in the court system's response
to children's issues; and she spearheaded the development of rules governing child abuse and
neglect cases. In her tenure as Chief Justice in 2011, she focused on improving rehabilitation services
for juveniles and established the Adjudicated Juvenile Rehabilitation Commission. Justice Workman has
been active in church and community activities, and she is the mother of Lindsay, Chris, and Ted Gardner.
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Justice Thomas E. McHugh
Justice Thomas E. McHugh was elected to the Supreme Court in 2010 to a two-year term. He began
sitting by Designation as Senior Status Justice on the Supreme Court on September 1, 2008, when the
Chief Justice appointed him to serve during the illness of Justice Joseph Albright, and he was reappointed
on January 1, 2009, for the same purpose. After the death of Justice Albright on March 20, 2009, Chief
Justice Brent Benjamin appointed him to the seat until the Governor named a replacement. On April 8,
2009, Governor Joe Manchin III appointed Justice McHugh to the Supreme Court to serve until the 2010
general election. At that time he was elected to complete Justice Albright’s twelve-year term, ending
December 31, 2012. Justice McHugh previously was elected to the Court in 1980 and was re-elected to
a second twelve-year term in 1992. He served as Chief Justice in 1984, 1988, 1992, 1995 and 1996. He
retired on December 31, 1997. After his retirement, he practiced law in the Charleston law firm of Allen
Guthrie McHugh and Thomas, where he was of counsel. Justice McHugh was born in Charleston on March
26, 1936, and is a 1958 graduate of West Virginia University and a Distinguished Military Graduate, and
he is a 1964 graduate of West Virginia University College of Law. In law school he was a member of the
Order of the Coif, a legal honorary, and was associate editor of the West Virginia Law Review. He served
as a First Lieutenant in the United States Army from 1958 to 1961. He was a law clerk to West Virginia
Supreme Court Justice Harlan Calhoun from 1966 to 1968. He was elected Judge in the Circuit Court of Photo by Steve Payne
Kanawha County in 1974, re-elected in 1976, and served as chief circuit judge from 1974 to 1980. Justice
McHugh was President of the West Virginia Judicial Association in 1981-1982. He is a former member
of the Judicial Review Board of West Virginia and was a member of the Visiting Committee of the West
Virginia University College of Law from 1991 to 1995, serving as Chairman of that Committee from
1994 to 1995. He was a member of the Dean Search Committee of the West Virginia University College
of Law from 1991 to 1992 and from 1997 to 1998. He is a member of the Mountain Honorary at West
Virginia University and is a recipient of the Distinguished West Virginian Award; the 1996 Special Award
of Achievement in the Administration of Justice from The West Virginia State Bar; the 1996 Public Service
Award from the Mountain State Bar Association; a 1998 Certification of Completion of Mediation Training
from Duke University Private Adjudication Center; the 1998 Outstanding Achievement Award from the
Kanawha County Bar Association; the 1998 Justicia Officium Award from the West Virginia University
College of Law; and the 2012 Distinguished Service in Justice, Equality, and Rule of Law Award from the
Mountain State Bar Association. Justice McHugh is a West Virginia Bar Foundation Fellow and Emeritus
Member, Judge John A. Field, Jr., American Inns of Court. He is Director Emeritus of the Children’s Home
Society of West Virginia. He is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Thomas Memorial Hospital and a
member of the West Virginia Center for Civic Life Board of Directors. He is a member of the Fourth Circuit
Judicial Conference. He and his wife, Judy, have four children – Karen, Cindy, James, and John – seven
grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.
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A Clerk Becomes a Justice
Justice Margaret Workman delivers the oath of office to Justice Allen H. Loughry II as his wife, Kelly, and son, Justus, watch on December 14, 2012,
in the Supreme Court Chamber. Photo by Thorney Lieberman
Supreme Court Law Clerk Allen H. Loughry II was sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals of
West Virginia in a public ceremony on December 14, 2012, in the Chamber of the Supreme Court.
His former boss, Justice Margaret L. Workman, delivered the oath of office.
“I’m giving up a law clerk, although I have talked to him and he’s agreed to maybe continue to do research
for me,” Justice Workman joked during the investiture ceremony. Justice Loughry has worked as a law clerk at the
Supreme Court since 2003 and became Justice Workman’s law clerk in January 2009.
Justice Loughry’s son, Justus, puts Justice Loughry took office on January 1, 2013. He was elected to a twelve-year term on November 6, 2012,
on his own robe. Photo by Thorney
Lieberman to the seat being vacated by retiring Justice Thomas E. McHugh.
During the ceremony, the Justices talked about Justice Loughry’s diligence; several said he did not miss a day
of work during the campaign for the Supreme Court. They praised his wife, Kelly, and son, Justus, and congratulated
his father, Allen Loughry Sr., who celebrated his seventy-fifth birthday on the day of the investiture.
The 45-minute ceremony was filled with an almost continuous banter between the Justices. Chief Justice
Menis Ketchum at one point brought out a miniature skeleton, a reference to a campaign commercial in which
Justice Loughry proclaimed, “I don’t have any skeletons in my closet.”
The Justices also commented about the book Justice Loughry published in 2006, Don't Buy Another Vote, I
Won’t Pay for a Landslide. And they talked about his education. Justice Brent Benjamin joked: “We probably never
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United States, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the United States District Courts
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