CHARLESTON — The legislature passed a resolution that clarifies that courts should stay out of impeachment trials.
House Joint Resolution 2 passed April 9 in the state Senate with a 23-11 vote. It was approved March 2 by the House of Delegates by a 78-21 vote.
The resolution is an amendment to the state constitution amending section nine, article IV which relates to the impeachment of officials and provides that courts have no authority or jurisdiction to intercede or intervene in any impeachment proceedings of the House of Delegates or the Senate.
It specifies that a judgment rendered by the Senate following an impeachment trial is not reviewable by any court in West Virginia.
"No court of this state has any authority or jurisdiction, by writ or otherwise, to intercede or intervene in, or interfere with, any impeachment proceedings of the House of Delegates or the Senate conducted hereunder; nor is any judgment rendered by the Senate following a trial of impeachment reviewable by any court of this state," the resolution states.
Before passage in the Senate last month, Sen. Michael Romano (D-Harrison) had moved to amend the resolution.
"Senator Romano moved to amend the resolution on page two, section nine, line two, after the word 'with,' by inserting the words 'the procedures established for'; And, On page two, section nine, line four, after the word 'state' by deleting the period and inserting the words 'relating to the procedures established and used during the proceedings," the floor amendment stated.
Romano's amendment, however, was rejected with an 11-23 vote.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Trump (R-Morgan) told MetroNews the Legislature needed to make the separation clear after the impeachments of several West Virginia Supreme Court justices in 2018. The decision will go to voters now through the constitutional amendment.
“The House of Delegates shall have sole power of impeachment,” the state Constitution currently reads. “The Senate shall have sole power to try impeachment.”
In 2018, the justices of the state Supreme Court were impeached for, among other things, office renovations and using state vehicles for private travel. Former Justice Margaret Workman filed a lawsuit arguing the impeachment stepped into the judiciary’s constitutional authority and that lawmakers hadn’t followed their own procedures.
The temporary panel of judges sitting as the state Supreme Court blocked the impeachment trials of all of the justices except Beth Walker, who already had had her trial in the state Senate. The House and Senate appealed that ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, but it refused to hear the case.
Democrats are opposed, saying the proposal goes too far. West Virginia Citizens for Clean Elections also says the amendment isn't needed because lawmakers already have that power.