CHARLESTON — Chief Justice Margaret Workman said she has done nothing to merit removal from office through an impeachment trial.
“I don’t have one blemish on my record of integrity and good conduct,” she said Friday. “I can’t help but believe this is a political ‘get our own people in there’ kind of effort when they won’t even tell me what I’m accused of.”
Workman, appearing Friday on MetroNews’ “Talkline,” said she understands the public outrage over West Virginia’s Supreme Court and agrees that much of the court’s spending was unnecessary and out of control.
But, Workman said she doesn’t understand how her own removal from office can be considered when she is not singled out for any misdeeds.
“Every day, I look at all the things in the media and social media and comments made by members of the Legislature, and I feel like I am being lumped in with other people who did wrong things and I didn’t do any wrongful conduct,” Workman said on “Talkline.”
“I’m not saying I’m perfect. I’m not saying I haven’t made mistakes. But I didn’t do the things that the impeachment allegations are about, as far as that catch-all maladministration Article 14. All five of us are being clumped together, and I can’t even find out from the House what I’m being accused of.”
Workman faces three impeachment charges. One is an overriding maladministration allegation that the justices did not hold each other accountable. The other two have to do with the overpayment of senior status judges.
“I would accept responsibility for anything I have done personally, and I would accept responsibility if I did not support good policy,” Workman said.
Justices Allen Loughry and Menis Ketchum face federal charges. The allegation they have in common is the use of state vehicles and purchasing cards to go to private events.
“I had no idea they were doing it, or you could bet your bottom dollar I’d be raising objection,” Workman said.
Workman, last Friday, filed a petition with the Supreme Court, challenging the legality of impeachment proceedings in the House of Delegates and requesting a stay of impeachment trial in the Senate.
She issued an order disqualifying herself from hearing her own petition.
Workman and her lawyers also have filed more than a dozen motions with the state Senate, asking for her impeachment trial to be delayed and for the articles to be dismissed.
Delegates voted to impeach Workman along with the other remaining members of the state Supreme Court on Aug. 13.
Workman is set for a trial in the Senate Oct. 15.
Workman on Friday contended that senior status judges are necessary to fill open seats in courtrooms across the state. She said the Constitution’s requirements to be responsive to justice for citizens would outweigh any statute limiting what senior status judges may earn in a year.
“Quite honestly, until this year, I was unaware of the statute. When a statute conflicts with a provision of the Constitution, the Constitution is going to have to prevail,” Workman said.
The impeachment trials in the Senate are scheduled to start Monday with Justice Beth Walker, who faces one article that she failed to hold her fellow justices accountable.
Workman has served two terms on the West Virginia Supreme Court.
In 1988, Workman became the first woman in West Virginia history to be elected to the state’s highest court. She was also the first West Virginian woman to win any statewide office.
Workman left the court in 2000, but then ran again and was re-elected in November 2008. Her current term ends in 2020.
She was elected chief justice in February, replacing suspended Justice Loughry, who faces two dozen federal charges.
