May a delegate who voted on judicial impeachment apply or run for a vacancy on the Supreme Court?
Apply this to your situation
This page answers the general question as of 2018. Ask about yours and see what the current rules of professional conduct in your state say for your facts, with citations.
Plain-English summary
A delegate considered applying or running for a vacant Supreme Court seat after participating in House impeachment votes concerning justices. The delegate had not presided over the impeachment proceeding and had tried to be excused from voting.
After reviewing Canon 4, the Commission found no impediment to applying or running because the impeachment proceedings had moved to the Senate.
In practice
The opinion permits the described application or campaign following the House vote and transfer of impeachment proceedings to the Senate.
Common questions
Q: Did the House impeachment vote bar the candidacy?
A: No. The Commission found no Canon 4 impediment.
Q: Could the delegate apply or run for the seat?
A: Yes. The opinion expressly permitted both.
Background and rules framework
The Commission reviewed Canon 4 of the West Virginia Code of Judicial Conduct and found no prohibition on the described candidacy. It cited no numbered provision within the Canon.
Citations and references
West Virginia Code of Judicial Conduct:
- Canon 4, judicial campaign conduct.
See also
Source
- Landing page: West Virginia Judicial Investigation Commission advisory opinions
- Original PDF: JIC Advisory Opinion 2018-17, redacted
Original opinion text
Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain; the linked PDF is authoritative.
JUDICIAL INVESTIGATION COMMISSION
City Center East - Suite 1200 A
4700 MacCorkle Ave., SE
Charleston, West Virginia 25304
(304) 558-0169 • FAX (304) 558-0831
August 21, 2018
Re: JIC Advisory Opinion 2018-17.
Dear
Your August 14, 2018 request for an advisory opinion was reviewed by the Judicial Investigation Commission. The facts giving rise to your request are as follows:
You are contemplating applying for a vacancy on the Supreme Court of Appeals
of West Virginia. The seat was vacated by Justice prior to the start of impeachment proceedings by the House of Delegates. You are also considering a run for the seat in the November 2018 general election. If you decide not to apply/run for the seat vacated by Justice , you are considering applying/running for any other vacancy that may/has occur(red) on the Court.
You want to know if your participation in the impeachment vote precludes you from applying/running for any vacancy on the Court. You did not preside over the impeachment proceedings before the house. Instead, you turned that task over to the Speaker Pro Tempore. You also asked to be excused from the August 13, 2018 impeachment vote in the full House concerning Justices
and
. However, due to a rule that requires members of a class possibly affected to vote, the President Pro Tempore required you to cast your ballot for/against the various articles of impeachment.
The Commission has reviewed Canon 4 of the Code of Judicial Conduct and can find no impediment to your applying/running for a vacancy on the Court since the impeachment proceedings are now in the breast of the State Senate. Therefore the
JIC Advisory Opinion 2018-17
August 21, 2018
Page 2 of2
Commission is of the opinion that you may apply/run for a seat on the State Supreme Court.
Thank you for your inquiry. If there is any further question regarding this matter please do not hesitate to contact the Commission.
/~~ Ronald E. Wilson, Chairperson
Judicial Investigation Commission
REW/tat
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