CHARLESTON — Supreme Court of Appeals candidate Joanna I. Tabit hopes to instill more accountability to the state's judiciary if she is elected in November.
Tabit said her vision for the court is pretty simple.
"I think the court needs to be fair, effective, responsive, accessible and accountable," Tabit said in an interview with The West Virginia Record. "I think that the court clearly needs to be accountable to the people that it serves."
Tabit said there are policies and procedures that could be implemented relatively simply that the framework is there within the auditor's office for spending and purchasing.
"The court needs to work with its new court director to implement those policies and procedures so that any purchasing with public monies is transparent," she said.
Tabit is running for Division 1, the seat of former Justice Menis Ketchum. The term expires in 2020. Tabit believes campaigning is going well.
"I'm having a good time traveling all over the state and meeting and engaging voters and hoping to earn their trust and confidence," Tabit said. "It's challenging during a compressed election cycle, but we're moving so fast we don't have time to get tired."
Tabit said she's noticed voters are more engaged during the current election cycle.
"I understand, obviously, people are a little bit not connected to the legal system and don't know a lot about the judiciary, judges and Supreme Court justices, but there is a cloud over our judiciary and a silver lining to it," Tabit said. "I think the voters are engaged and being thoughtful about the justices they are electing to the court."
Tabit believes that voters appreciate the need to elect a qualified, experienced individual who possesses integrity and character to lead.
"That's the message I am trying to get across," she said. "The court is unquestionably in crisis and now, more than ever, we need a qualified judge to get in there and do the work of the court and lead the court into the next generation."
Tabit, who currently is a circuit judge for Kanawha County, said she ran for public office because she wanted to improve the lives if West Virginians.
"It may sound cliche," she said. "But I believe the court is in crisis and this is the best thing I could do for the people and for the court."
Tabit considers herself the most qualified person in her race.
"I have spent my entire professional life in the courtroom," she said. "Twenty-eight years as a trial lawyer trying cases and the last four years as a judge in one of the busiest circuits in the state, trying and presiding over complex cases. I do the work of the court every day."
Tabit said she has the distinction of working as a law clerk for retired Justice Thomas McHugh when she graduated law school.
"I argued scores of cases in front of the Supreme Court of Appeals," she said. "And I've also had the distinction of being appointed as an acting justice on cases before the Supreme Court."
Tabit said she knows the work of the court firsthand.
"I am ready to hit the ground running," she said. "I do not believe a justice of the Supreme Court of Appeals is meant for on-the-job training. I'm ready to do it."
The other candidates in Division 1 are Tim Armstead, Harry "Bo" Bruner, Robert Carlton, Ron Hatfield, Mark Hunt, Hiram Lewis IV, D.C. Offutt Jr., Chris Wilkes and Jeff C. Woods.
