Editorial: On the Supreme Court, snow days, bad buildings

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals voted unanimously Thursday to reconsider its reversal of a $76.3 million judgment against Massey Energy Co. The earlier verdict has been tainted by allegations that one of the Supreme Court's five justices was overly biased in favor of Massey Energy.

After photos surfaced of him and Massey CEO Don Blankenship while both were in Europe on vacation, Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard recused himself from cases involving Massey. But Maynard is one of three justices whose objectivity in the Massey case has been questioned.

Justice Brent Benjamin owes his seat on the court in part to the massive amounts of money and advertising that Blankenship provided four years ago. Justice Larry Starcher has been an outspoken critic of Blankenship.

That the impartiality of three of the five justices on the state's highest court has been questioned in the Massey case shows how political the court has become.

To be credible, the Supreme Court must be impartial, and it must maintain the appearance of impartiality. The debate on how to improve judicial selection and conduct already is under way and long overdue.

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A headline in The Herald-Dispatch on Friday said it well: "School days off cutting into instruction time." Cabell County schools have lost five days so far this school year, and the year is barely half over. Snow and cold weather forced schools to close on Dec. 5, Jan. 2 and Jan. 3, while water problems forced their closure last Wednesday and Thursday.

The school calendar is a complicated thing, mainly because the state Legislature dictates when the school year may begin and when it may end. The Legislature also dictates how many days off schools may schedule to make up for snow days.

Sooner or later, legislators will realize they do not have the answer to every local problem. If the goal truly is to provide a certain number of instructional days, the Legislature will have to loosen its grip on the school schedule.

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Speaking of which, some legislators have recognized that cities need more authority to deal with two local problems: delinquent fees and dilapidated buildings.

Three bills have been introduced in the Legislature to deal with these problems, and at least one more could be introduced soon. In the case of delinquent fees, proposals would allow cities to move more quickly and with less expense in recovery. In the case of dilapidated buildings, the idea is to make things easier for cities as they try to be reimbursed for demolition costs.

Much has been written in the past 12 months about how cities such as Huntington have great difficulty in collecting delinquent fees and in protecting neighborhoods by getting rid of dilapidated or burned-out buildings. These processes can take five years or more. That is simply not acceptable. Cities must be able to move more quickly on these problems. The Legislature should give full consideration to all legislation granting such authority.