The West Virginia House Judiciary Committee adopted articles of impeachment [draft, PDF] on Tuesday against all four justices remaining on the state’s Supreme Court of Appeals.
A West Virginia legislature statement [press release] outlines the 14 articles that were approved, including accusing all four justices of failing to “properly carry out the administrative duties of the court” and wasteful spending. Two were denied.
The articles state that each one of the justices “failed to discharge the duties of their offices, and were and are guilty of maladministration, 12 corruption, incompetency, neglect of duty, and certain high crimes and misdemeanors.”
West Virginia has five Supreme Court justices by law, elected to 12-year terms. The fifth, Justice Menis Ketchum, resigned in July. The articles of impeachment recommend that the entire remaining four—Chief Justice Margaret Workman, Justice Allen Loughry, Justice Robin Davis and Justice Elizabeth Walker–be impeached.
The articles now go before the full House of Delegates for approval before the justices may face trial in the state Senate.