CHARLESTON – Robin Jean Davis, a 22-year member of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, is now the second justice to resign from the troubled court. “As I’ve always placed my faith in the people of West Virginia, I return that faith to the people of West Virginia,” Davis said. “Effective yesterday, August 13th, I retired as a justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.” Davis, who was first elected to the court in 1996, announced her resignation to a packed supreme court chamber Tuesday morning. Davis’ resignation paves the way for a temporary appointment by Gov. Jim Justice. It also comes in under an August 14 deadline or any supreme court resignation to trigger a special election on the November ballot. “Now, the citizens – and let me repeat that – the citizens of West Virginia, will be afforded their constitutional right to elect my successor in November,” Davis said. The West Virginia House of Delegates adopted 11 articles of impeachment Monday after nine days of investigations by the House Judiciary Committee. Every sitting justice was impeached, including justices Allen Loughry, Margaret Workman, and Beth Walker. In her statement, Davis piled on criticism of the House of Delegates and their impeachment process. “The majority have ignored the will of the people who elected the justices of this court,” Davis said. “They have erased the lines of separation between the branches of government. In fact, the majority in the legislature is positioning to impose their own party preferences.” Davis was named in three articles for overpayment of senior status judges in violation of state law, spending $500,000 on renovations and furnishings for her office, and for adopting no policies and procedures regarding purchasing, travel, or spending. “Most majority members of the judiciary committee have skipped from one subject to another, intentionally and without the due process of law,” Davis said. “The majority party has established a preconception which they bring forth without to regard to the evidence or the process by which that evidence should be considered.” “The will of the people of West Virginia is being denied,” Davis continued. “I just cannot allow the finalizing of this product to come to fruition.” Davis is the second judge to resign in less than 20 days. Former Justice Menis Ketchum resigned July 27. Shortly afterward the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia announced that Ketchum had agreed to plead guilty in an information to one count of felony wire fraud. Ketchum is accused of using state vehicles and fuel cards for out-of-state personal golf outings. Ketchum’s plea hearing is August 23, and is cooperating with investigators as they look further at the supreme court. Justice Allen Loughry is also sidelined, having been suspended without pay pending the outcome of a federal court case. Loughry was charged in a 23-count federal indictment, including charges of witness tampering, obstruction of justice, and lying to federal investigators. Last week, Workman appointed Cabell County Circuit Judge Paul Farrell to fill in for Loughry. Davis’ resignation will require another temporary justice to be appointed. Gov. Justice will also have an opportunity to pick a replacement to sit until the November special election. Whoever wins to fill her seat will serve until 2026, when her term ends. A proclamation from the governor calling the special election was expected Tuesday. Candidates wishing to run for her seat have until Aug. 21 to file with the West Virginia Secretary of State’s Office. “I thank my fellow West Virginians for the extraordinary opportunity to have served you,” Davis said. “I encourage each of you to watch this legislative process very carefully and to vote in November.” See full story in Wednesday’s News and Sentinel. ••• CHARLESTON — State Supreme Court Justice Robin Jean Davis, impeached on Monday by the West Virginia House of Delegates, this morning resigned her position, expressing “dismay for how the rule of law is being dismantled” in the state. This story is developing.<doc-sep>The opening sentences of Robin Davis’s letter of resignation as a State Supreme Court Justice read as follows: “I deliver this statement today in dismay, disbelief, and in sadness. I feel profound grief for the State of West Virginia given the current state of affairs.” Who could disagree with that? The events that have come to light over the past nine months about the operation, exorbitant spending and misuse of public funds by the State Supreme Court of Appeals have shocked the conscience of West Virginians. Unfortunately, however, Davis was not talking about the Court’s behavior. Instead, the sentences were the opening salvo of an attack on the process that led to the House of Delegates decision to impeach Davis, as well as (suspended) Justice Allen Loughry, Chief Justice Margaret Workman and Justice Beth Walker. In her resignation, Davis goes on to call the impeachment a disaster for the Rule of Law, an attempt to dismantle a separate branch of government, and “a preconceived, result driven mania” by the Republicans. Davis said she is resigning because she “cannot allow the finalizing of their plot to come to fruition.” So, her retirement is a noble gesture? Either that or her resignation is a last desperate attempt by someone who was very close to being removed from the Court to stomp out of the office with the familiar parting shot of “you-can’t-fire-me-I-quit.” Davis’s egotistical bitterness overshadows legitimate concerns about the process that legislators themselves have raised. Is the impeachment and possible removal from office an overreach by one branch of government? Is a $500,000 office renovation an impeachable offense, but not a $130,000 upgrade? Interestingly, nowhere in Davis’s parting shot does she even reference the exorbitant costs of her office work. Those costs included, but are not limited to, $23,000 for “design services” by an architect, $90,000 for glass countertops, a glass door and flooring, $40,000 for stainless steel cabinets and shelves, two Edward Fields rugs for $28,000, and an $8,000 office chair. It is worth noting here that during the impeachment of State Treasurer A. James Manchin in 1989, then-House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Hatcher provided guidance on how wasteful spending could rise to the level of impeachment. Hatcher wrote that incompetency (one of the grounds for impeachment) was defined as, among other things, “the wasting or misappropriation of public funds by any officer.” Hatcher applied a similar interpretation for neglect of duty. He wrote that could “include the willful waste of public funds.” Months ago, when WCHS TV’s Kennie Bass broke the story, Davis told the reporter, “I wanted the people to hear about my office from me. Anything that is done in this office is on me.” That turned out to be a prescient statement. Most of the attention following the spending revelations focused on Justice Allen Loughry who, as the evidence now indicates, lied to investigators and the public about his role in the opulent office work. However, as the investigation has proceeded, we have learned more about all of the spending by the Court, including Davis’s extravagance, and that has stoked public enmity. That admission helped her avoid a legal tangle similar to Loughry’s, but it certainly never justified the spending, nor did it protect her from impeachment. As House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Shott said in response to Davis’s harsh criticism of the impeachment process, “Unfortunately, as we pursued the evidence, it became clear that the state Supreme Court has been overcome by a culture of entitlement and cavalier indifference with regard to the spending of taxpayer money.” For anyone with lingering questions about that corrupt culture and the arrogance that accompanied it, a quick read of Davis’s letter of resignation is in order. Dismay, disbelief and sadness are certainly appropriate, but not for the reasons cited by Davis.<doc-sep>
CHARLESTON — Supreme Court Justice Robin Jean Davis, impeached on Monday by the West Virginia House of Delegates, this morning resigned her position, expressing “dismay” for how the rule of law is being dismantled in the state. Here is Davis’ official statement, released this morning by the court: “I deliver this statement today in dismay, disbelief, and in sadness. I feel profound grief for the state of West Virginia given the current state of affairs. What we are witnessing is a disaster for the Rule of law, the foundation of our state, and indeed, our very society. For when a legislative body attempts to dismantle a separate branch of government, the immediate effects, as well as the precedent it sets for the future, can only be termed disastrous. “Most majority members of the judiciary committee have skipped from one subject to another, irrationally, and without due process of law. The majority party has established a preconception which they bring forth, without regard to the evidence, or the process by which that evidence should be considered. “The majority members have ignored the will of the people who elected the justices of this court. They have erased the lines of separation between the branches of government. In fact, the majority party in the legislature is positioning to impose their own party preferences. The will of the people is being DENIED! “I just cannot allow the finalizing of their plot to come to fruition. I have always put my faith in the people of West Virginia. The people of West Virginia have honored me in three separate elections by placing their confidence in me as a Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. I have returned their faith by serving honorably for almost 22 years. “I am proud of the opinions I have written as well my dissents. As a point of particular pride,cases on which I have sat,as a West Virginia Supreme Court Justice, which have been appealed to the United States Supreme Court, have always, every single time, been upheld by the United States Supreme Court. It is exactly this fairness of process I would have hoped would have been applied to recent legislative actions. But,there is no evidence that has been the case or that it will be the case. “We judges weigh evidence as part of our jobs. Unfortunately, the evidence clearly shows that the preconceived, result driven mania, among the majority party members in the legislature cannot result in a just and fair outcome. “As I said, I have always placed my faith in the people. I return that faith today to the people of West Virginia. Effective yesterday, August 13, 2018, I retired as a Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. The citizens of West Virginia will therefore be afforded their Constitutional right to vote in November and elect the Justice who will be my successor. “I thank my fellow West Virginians for the extraordinary opportunity to have served you. I encourage each of you to watch this legislative process very carefully and to vote in November.”