On eve of impeachment meetings, Ketchum quits West Virginia Supreme Court

One day before West Virginia lawmakers start considering whether some state Supreme Court justices deserve to be impeached, Justice Menis Ketchum (D) retired from his seat on the court, with more than two years left in his term.

Ketchum faxed his two-sentence resignation letter, handwritten on Supreme Court stationery, to Gov. Jim Justice. The letter reads: “I have decided to retire [and] relinquish my office as a Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. My retirement is effective at the close of the business day on Friday, July 27, 2018.” It is signed, “Respectfully yours, Menis E. Ketchum.”

Members of the House of Delegates Judiciary Committee are scheduled to begin considering impeachment proceedings against Supreme Court justices Thursday morning.

The justice whose name was most associated with those proceedings is Allen Loughry, who was indicted last month on federal criminal charges of fraud, lying to investigators and witness tampering. He also is charged with 32 violations of the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct. But the House resolution starting the impeachment process, although it mentioned the charges against Loughry, did not say which justices the process might involve.

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