Attorney Files Petition Against New Supreme Court Justices

A Charleston attorney has filed a petition with the West Virginia Supreme Court, seeking to block Evan Jenkins and Tim Armstead from being appointed to fill two vacant seats on the court and to remove Jenkins’ name from the ballot in November. WCHS TV reported attorney William Schwartz of Charleston filed the petition Thursday. Schwartz is a candidate for a 6-year term on the court. The petition is filed against Jenkins, Armstead, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice and Secretary of State Mac Warner and claimed Jenkins should be disqualified from the ballot for election to the Supreme Court because the West Virginia Constitution requires a candidate to be admitted to practice law in West Virginia for the decade prior to the election. Jenkins’ was inactive for four of the last 10 years, the petition said. It also said Jenkins and Armstead’s appointments to the court to serve in the interim positions violate the state constitution.