Basic Fairness

Campaign contribution impropriety?

West Virginia judges and Supreme Court Justices are selected through partisan elections. Most other states do not use this selection process. Judicial elections require increasing financial resources, and while judicial candidates are not supposed to know who is contributing to their campaigns, the information is publicly available. The following aspects of campaign funding for judges is troubling:

The largest source of contributions to the current Supreme Court is large individual contributions from the personal injury lawsuit industry – about $750,000 from this source. Since personal injury lawyers make their money directly from contingency fees based on decisions made in the courtroom, what are their motivations for contributing so much money to Supreme Court elections?

Justice Warren McGraw’s campaign has been raising money for his expected 2004 Supreme Court campaign using a campaign fund based on his 2000 attempt to win election four years prior to his term expiring – a campaign where McGraw was ruled ineligible to run by the Supreme Court.

Read More:

:: Code of Judicial Conduct on political activity

:: Contributions to Judicial Candidates, Charles McElwee, Esq.

:: American Bar Association Report "Justice in Jeopardy"

:: Back to Eye on WV Justice