BECKLEY W.VA. — As the case in the federal trial of West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Allen Loughry moved forward this week, Sen. Stephen Baldwin, D-Greenbrier, offered his perspective regarding the charges against Loughry, as well as the impeachment proceedings that have unfolded thus far against the other members of the court.
Speaking to MetroNews affiliate WJLS, Baldwin said that, in the event Loughry is convicted, an impeachment trial against him would still be necessary, partly because of questions regarding Loughry’s future eligibility to run for state office in West Virginia. Baldwin, who was the only senator to vote in favor of removing Justice Beth Walker from office, said he would apply the same standard to Loughry as he did to Walker.
“For me, it really came down to something simple…I listened to the evidence, and I just tried to think in my mind: if a state employee had done the same thing she had done, would they lose their job? And I think so. I mean, I think that’s pretty clear,” said Baldwin, adding, “If you had done major renovations to your office, using taxpayer funding, if you had had taxpayers pay for your lunch for a long, regular period of time, if you had pay somebody else to do part of what was under your job description, I think you would have lost your job.”
Baldwin was appointed to the District 10 Senate seat by Governor Jim Justice, following the departure of Ron Miller, who resigned in order to work for the Justice administration in 2017. The district includes Fayette, Greenbrier, Monroe, and Summers counties.