Huntington News - BETH WALKER: Charleston Attorney Advocates for the Rule of Law

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Huntington News - BETH WALKER: Charleston Attorney Advocates for the Rule of Law

Tony Rutherford

The state has two seats up for grabs on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.Charleston attorney, Beth Walker (R ), a strong advocate for the rule of law and reform wants one of those positions.

Depending upon which poll you trust (one has Walker trailing Menis Ketchum ( D) by two percent and another by 13 percent; both give Margaret Workman a comfortable lead for the first position), Walker has a chance of making the
2009 court the first with three women justices. A Charleston attorney for 18 years, Walker graduated from Ohio State University, where she was Articles Editor for the Ohio State Law Journal. She's now a partner at Bowles Rice McDavid Graff & Love LLP.

As a strict advocate for interpreting the law, Walker opposes liberal activist judges who through court decisions impose personal agendas through judge made law, when the legislature should be the only branch of government
establishing law.

"Our Constitution is not a living and breathing document that needs to be reinterpreted depending on what society thinks," Walker said Saturday, Sept. 13 at Cabell County's downtown Republican headquarters. "It is a constitution… you're not supposed to ‘read into things' and then legislate."

The state's court system has a nationwide reputation as, in her words, "a permissive place for lawsuits," which leads to attorneys from out of state coming to file mass tort litigation. In addition, the courts of West Virginia are perceived by other states as partial and political.

"We could have an interesting debate about whether that perception is accurate [but] the perception is very real," Walker explained. "We need to focus on the Supreme Court being fair, impartial and not so political. I'm coming from outside of politics. I've been practicing law for [about] 20 years. I feel strongly and positively about the future of West Virginia. One of the main things we need to work on is our court system."

When asked her position on family law issues, Ms. Walker declined to speculate on topics "that might come before the court. I want to be in a position of hearing a case without pre-judging it."

The candidate does not perceive an intermediate appellate layer as a method of improving the state judicial system and the pressure on the West Virginia Supreme Court. Many states have an intermediate level where an appeal is
automatic; West Virginia's Supreme Court votes on whether to hear cases in a similar manner as the United States Supreme Court.

Walker explained that the authority to establish an intermediate court in the state already exists.

"There was a constitutional amendment passed 30 or 40 years ago to allow the legislature to create an intermediate court. They have no done that to date," Walker said, adding, "I'm not convinced putting all those state dollars into creating another layer of our court is what we ought to rush to do. I would like to see us look at other ways to make the existing courts more efficient."

One way would be for the legislature to devise a workman's compensation alternative to Supreme Court review.

"The vast majority of petitions filed with our Supreme Court are workman's compensation deals," Walker said. "People need to pursue their claims" in order to receive "due process," but she thinks it's not the best use of Supreme Court resources. "Obviously, it's for the legislature to decide; I always defer to the legislature."

Although she favors tort reforms, "this is another one that I refer to the legislature."

Yet, the federal court system in the state does not endure the same political claims as state courts. But, federal judges are not elected in a partisan election; they are appointed for life by the President.

"We're one of only seven states that elect their highest court judges in partisan elections," the candidate explained. " I think that's where the politics enters into the system. I would love for the legislature to consider a non partisan election."

Thus, you can be assured if elected Walker will not legislate from the bench.
"I'm interested in the law, the rule of law. And that and that alone is my campaign. It's not the place of the court's to legislate, that's the place of the legislature." Still, even with the current systematic hurdles, "It's important to talk about not favoring one side or the other. If our court's are fair and the judge decides based on the law not based on who the party's are, not based on the politics of the case, I think you may even the playing field."

A few days following the interview poll calculations have saw a dicey disagreement over how close to Ketchum one poll revealed. Not unexpectedly, Walker does not have any issues with the poll that shows her neck and neck with her opponent.

"It's consistent with what I've felt , what we have done internally, and talking with people around the state. Justice W, retired now, has a lot of name recognition. Our efforts over the last 11 months have put us in a position to win this election," Walker said.

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