Our government was set up with executive, legislative and judicial branches, each having differing roles in order to run efficiently under a system of checks and balances.

Recently we have seen examples of activist judges effectively writing legislation from the bench, even though writing laws is a responsibility designated for our legislature.

Also, in our lawsuit oriented society we are seeing examples of attempts to govern through lawsuits rather than having our elected representatives in the legislature carrying out that role.

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals is not only our state’s highest court, it is the state’s only appellate court.  West Virginia law also does not guarantee individuals a right of appeal.  Consequently, decisions from the Supreme Court of Appeals are of extreme importance.

Former Justice Warren McGraw’s “Scream in Racine” speech is just one of several black eyes that West Virginia’s Supreme Court of Appeals has experienced over the past several years.