Justices meet to inform students, community about court issues

Faculty, staff, community members and students welcomed four justices from the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Monday with a panel discussion at the Francis Booth Experimental Theatre.

Judge Robert C. Chambers hosted the open forum and introduced Chief Justice Joseph Albright and Justices Robin Davis, Elliot Maynard and Brent Benjamin to the Marshall community. Justice Larry Starcher was teaching at West Virginia University College of Law and was unable to attend the event.

Before presenting the panel, Chambers said most citizens are unaware of the court system and how it operates.

"The Supreme Court, in particular, is probably the most hidden branch of government in any state and at the federal level," he said. "Very few people ever see the workings of the court. I'd say most people haven't been in a courtroom often, so it's a great opportunity for all of us, for our community, for the students here, for everyone, to see how our Supreme Court really operates."

Judges typically do not participate in forums such as this one, Chambers said.

"Judges don't usually come to things like this," he said. "Usually they sit up on the bench and rather than answer questions, they direct the questions, so it's great to have our judges here willing to have a dialogue and open conversation with students and faculty and members of the community."

The justices were first asked how they decide what cases to hear.

"As we do everything, it's by majority vote," Davis said. "There are five of us and we vote...we can either vote to hear the case if it's of interest or if it's an issue that we think is of state constitutional magnitude, then we will vote to hear it, if not, we vote to refuse it. It's as simple as that."

Maynard said the court currently hears more than 1,500 cases a year, which is an unusual amount for a Supreme Court.

"When I first came to court, we were doing about 3,000 cases a year," he said. "We're down now to probably around 1,600 to 1,800 cases a year. Most Supreme Courts do 500 to 800 cases a year, and that's where I hope we are someday."

Davis said the West Virginia Supreme Court is the busiest appellate court in the country and works with the third smallest budget of any other court.

When asked about the selection and election of judges, all the justices agreed politics should be left out of the courtroom and elections for judgeships should be changed to non-partisan elections.

"Politics do not belong in the administration of justice," Benjamin said. "I think we should have non-partisan elections. When we put on that robe and we all wear the same robe on the court, that's in essence to show that we are not individuals out there, but we are collectively the Supreme Court of West Virginia. We come out as justices, not as Republicans, not as Democrats. It's about giving everyone a fair shot."

Albright explained it is not always an easy job being a judge.

"Do I always get it right?," he said. "No, I keep an eraser on every pencil I own. Have I decided every case correctly? No, and I won't, and neither will every other judge. It's not what your personal views are, it's what is the law, and often times you have to answer what should the law be."

The Supreme Court will hear several cases tomorrow, including the Coal Severance Tax and the Tobacco Tax cases, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Joan C. Edwards Playhouse. The event will be covered live by Channel 25 and ITVS and is open to the public. Attendants are asked to turn off all cell phones and pagers during the session.