Members of the West Virginia State Bar, the agency to regulate training and ethics for attorneys, will be asked later this month to consider a resolution explicitly supporting the rule of law in the United States by reinforcing judicial independence.
That’s a milemarker for where we are in 2026.
“Right now, in the past year and a half or so, judges have come under very serious threats, simply for their rulings,” said longtime attorney George Carenbauer, who drew up the resolution.
“So I think it’s a very serious crisis that we’re undergoing in this country and that the State Bar, under its ethical guidelines, has an obligation to advise the public of this and to further their confidence in the rule of law and the separation of powers.”
So Carenbauer has offered the resolution to speak up and articulate core values. Overall, the measure aims to fulfill lawyers’ ethical duty to build public confidence in the justice system in an era of significant institutional strain.
The resolution will be up for a vote during the State Bar‘s annual meeting at the Charleston Convention Center at 8 a.m. April 20.
The West Virginia State Bar is the mandatory, official organization for all lawyers licensed to practice in West Virginia, acting as an agency of the state Supreme Court of Appeals.
The proposal urges legal professionals to publicly defend the separation of powers and reject efforts to intimidate or impeach judges based on their rulings.
“It’s fundamental to the rule of law. I mean, it’s absolutely fundamental,” Carenbauer said.
The resolution is undergirded by a dangerous rise in threats against the judiciary, citing concerns from Chief Justice John Roberts and a range of federal judges about personal security and political interference.
Last month, Roberts warned that “personally directed hostility” and threats against federal judges are dangerous. “It’s got to stop,” the chief justice said.
President Donald Trump later in the month leveled blunt criticism at the court system by saying at a cabinet meeting, “The judges are really hurting this country. Justice Roberts doesn’t like when I say it, but the judges are really hurting this country. And frankly, the justices. The Supreme Court has really hurt our country too.”
Around the same time, Trump said, “We got rogue judges that are criminals. They are criminals, what they do to our country. The decisions that they hand down and hurt our country.”
The resolution in West Virginia, if adopted, outlines five tenets for members of the West Virginia State Bar to uphold:
Supporting the separation of powers: Lawyers are encouraged to forcefully and publicly support the separation of powers under the U.S. and West Virginia Constitutions, specifically the concept of judicial review.
Rejecting executive immunity from review: Members should reject any suggestions that the actions of the executive branch are beyond the reach of judicial review.
Opposing retaliatory impeachments: The resolution calls on lawyers to condemn and reject calls for the impeachment of a judge solely because the court did not agree with the executive branch’s position.
Special responsibility for public officials: It emphasizes that these responsibilities are especially applicable to lawyers holding public office because they are in a better position to ensure judicial review is maintained.
Defending the State Bar’s disciplinary authority: A key goal is to defend the primacy of the State Bar’s Lawyer Disciplinary Board in enforcing the Rules of Professional Conduct. This includes ensuring that no outside organization, such as the Department of Justice, has the authority to suppress or forestall ethical investigations.
Carenbauer says those points outline ethical obligations by West Virginians who practice law.
“If somebody comes and tries to threaten a judge, you go forward and say ‘No, that is wrong.’ So you have an obligation. And it’s especially true for public officials. Public officials are in a better position to respond to the rule of law and also to advocate when challenged.
“If somebody challenges to the chief justice, for example, I think a lawyer has the obligation to come back and say ‘The chief justice is right: things are under attack; this needs to be put to an end.”
“Why we are finding it necessary in 2026 to make statements that, just a few years ago, would have seemed self-evident and noncontroversial?” said Jamie Conrad, the principle of Conrad Law & Policy Counsel.
It’s because the traditional separation of powers in the United States is currently facing an unprecedented crisis, said Conrad, a veteran attorney who volunteers with Lawyers Defending American Democracy.
The executive branch has blown past historical norms, he said, while a passive Congress has failed to serve as a necessary check on presidential authority. So, Conrad said, the shift places a heavy burden on the judicial branch, which is now suffering from increased hostility and physical threats.
Conrad is the author of a Bloomberg News article titled “Mandatory Bars Can Still Speak Out for Rule of Law After Decision.”
In comments to MetroNews, Conrad emphasized that the rule of law rides on the integrity of lawyers and state bar associations. He concluded that active participation from the legal profession is a significant barrier preventing the American republic from sliding into authoritarianism or tyranny.
“It is not much of an exaggeration to say that the rule of law is the only feature that currently distinguishes our political system from that of Hungary — or Russia,” he said.
“Lawyers are an essential element of the rule of law, and they need to speak up in support of it. That’s the reason for the resolution currently before the West Virginia State Bar.”