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Justice Maynard endorses recusal changes
West Virginia’s Supreme Court, Chief Justice Elliott “Spike” Maynard
CHARLESTON -- At the center of conflict-of-interest allegations that have rocked West Virginia's Supreme Court, Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard told a candidate forum Monday that the state should somehow review the recusal decisions made by its judicial officers.
"We need some system to second-guess a justice on recusal," Maynard said at the event, hosted by the Independent Insurance Agents of West Virginia and broadcast by the MetroNews Radio Network.
Seeking re-election to a 12-year term, Maynard has disqualified himself from at least three appeals involving Massey Energy Co. since photos surfaced showing him in Monaco with company President, Chairman and Chief Executive Don Blankenship.
The photos made national headlines and prompted outcries from legal ethics experts. Asked whether he had shown a lack of judgment in the episode, Maynard cited the small-town nature of Mingo County, where he and Blankenship began their 30-year friendship.
"It doesn't mean you can't be fair," Maynard said.
Maynard appeared at Monday's two-hour forum with fellow Democratic candidates Bob Bastress and Margaret Workman and Republican Beth Walker. Democrat Menis Ketchum was invited to the event but did not attend, moderator Hoppy Kercheval said.
The wide-ranging forum touched on several topics, including the selection process for the judiciary, the separation of powers and the number of lawyers in West Virginia. Kercheval also asked the four about abortion: Bastress said he supported abortion rights, Maynard hopes for the anti-abortion endorsement, Walker decried the rulings that legalized abortion and Workman said the decision should be an individual's and not the government's.
The candidates were also asked about the pending motion to recuse Justice Brent Benjamin from at least one Massey case. Blankenship spent an estimated $3.5 million to help Benjamin, a Republican, unseat a Democratic incumbent in the 2004 high court race.
Justice Larry Starcher has also urged Benjamin to disqualify himself, after agreeing himself last week to step down from a Massey appeal. Starcher has made a series of public comments critical of the coal producer, Blankenship and his political spending.
"It's a question again, of appearance," said Bastress, a West Virginia University law professor. "That case is so public, so big, so much the object of public scrutiny. You have the appearance of Mr. Blankenship spending all that money and benefiting Justice Benjamin."
Court rules require judicial officers to recuse themselves from proceedings to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. But the rules also leave the final say with the targeted judge or justice.
Workman noted that ethical rules call on jurists to at least disclose friendships and other possible grounds for recusal. A former justice, Workman also declined to comment on the specific cases involving either Benjamin or Maynard.
Walker questioned whether there is an appearance of impropriety regarding Benjamin. But she does believe that West Virginia appears to be plagued by meritless lawsuits, lazy judges and jackpot jury awards as has been alleged by national business groups.
"What matters in my view is, that's the perception," Walker said. "Going forward, that's what we need to be concerned about, is changing that, not getting into an argument into whether it's accurate or not."
Bastress and Workman disagreed, with Bastress citing recent research he said undermined such claims about the state's civil justice system. Maynard echoed Walker, noting he first ran for the Supreme Court in 1996 by decrying "lawsuit abuse."
But Maynard also parted with Walker slightly when she criticized the school of legal thought that views the constitution as a living, evolving document. Though he considers himself a strict constructionist, Maynard noted that past courts have read the U.S. Constitution to allow slavery, deny the vote to women and permit segregated schools.
"You do have to interpret the document to make it apply to modern life," Maynard said.
