Margaret Workman

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

American judge

title: "Margaret Workman" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1947-births", "living-people", "21st-century-american-judges", "united-states-judges-impeached-by-state-or-territorial-governments", "lawyers-from-charleston,-west-virginia", "politicians-from-charleston,-west-virginia", "justices-of-the-supreme-court-of-appeals-of-west-virginia", "west-virginia-circuit-court-judges", "west-virginia-democrats", "west-virginia-lawyers", "west-virginia-university-college-of-law-alumni", "women-chief-justices-of-state-supreme-courts-in-the-united-states", "women-in-west-virginia-politics", "chief-justices-of-the-supreme-court-of-appeals-of-west-virginia", "21st-century-american-women-judges", "20th-century-american-women-judges", "20th-century-west-virginia-state-court-judges"] description: "American judge" topic_path: "law" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Workman" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American judge ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox officeholder"]

Field	Value
name	Margaret Workman
office	Chief Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
term_start	February 16, 2018
term_end	December 31, 2018
predecessor	Allen Loughry
successor	Beth Walker
term_start1	January 1, 2015
term_end1	December 31, 2015
predecessor1	Robin Davis
successor1	Menis Ketchum
term_start2	January 1, 2011
term_end2	December 31, 2011
predecessor2	Robin Davis
successor2	Menis Ketchum
term_start3	January 1, 1997
term_end3	December 31, 1997
predecessor3	Thomas McHugh
successor3	Robin Davis
term_start4	January 1, 1993
term_end4	December 31, 1993
predecessor4	Thomas McHugh
successor4	William T. Brotherton Jr.
office5	Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals
term_start5	January 1, 2009
term_end5	December 31, 2020
predecessor5	Larry Starcher
successor5	William R. Wooton
term_start6	January 1, 1989
term_end6	August 31, 1999
predecessor6	Darrell McGraw
successor6	George Scott
birth_date
birth_place	Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.
party	Democratic
education	University of Charleston
West Virginia University, Morgantown (BA, JD)
::

Life

Workman was born in Charleston, West Virginia to Mary Emma Thomas Workman and Frank Eugene Workman. Her father was a coal miner, and his ancestors were some of the first settlers of Boone County, West Virginia. She attended public schools in Kanawha County, West Virginia. She attended Morris Harvey College (now the University of Charleston) for one year and received her undergraduate degree from West Virginia University. She received a degree in law from West Virginia University College of Law. She was the first person in her family to attend college. She had three children.

Career

As a senior in high school, Workman wrote a letter to West Virginia Governor Hulett Smith seeking employment, and she was hired to handle correspondence at the governor's office. This job led her to enroll in law school. She, however, resigned in 1999 with 18 months left on her term. She returned to her private law practice.

She then entered the Democratic primary in 2002 and 2004 for West Virginia's 2nd congressional district seat, but lost both times. She then ran again for the court in 2008 and was elected. Workman previously served as chief justice in 1993, 1997, 2011, and 2015.

Impeachment

Following a series of controversies involving excessive spending, the West Virginia House Judiciary Committee voted to recommend that Workman and the three remaining justices be impeached on August 7, 2018 "for maladministration, corruption, incompetency, neglect of duty, and certain high crimes and misdemeanors". Based on the committee recommendation, Workman was impeached by the full West Virginia House of Delegates on August 13, 2018.

Justice Workman's impeachment trial was scheduled to begin on October 15, 2018. However, on October 11, the Supreme Court of Appeals, temporarily reconstituted with five circuit court judges, issued an injunction blocking the impeachment trial, stating that the articles of impeachment presented by the House of Delegates against Workman violated the separation of powers doctrine and, therefore, the Senate has no jurisdiction to try Workman on the impeachment. In addition, Judge Paul Farrell, who is presiding over the trial as acting Chief Justice, stated that he would not preside over Justice Workman's trial while the injunction was in place. The Senate met on October 15 and adjourned with no final decision on how to proceed being made. Senate President Mitch Carmichael did announce after the session had adjourned that the Senate would ask the Supreme Court of Appeals to reconsider their decision. Workman retired when her term expired on December 31, 2020.

Awards and honors

In 1993, Workman received the West Virginia Prosecuting Attorneys Association's Excellence in Criminal Justice Award. She has also received the Susan B. Anthony Award, the Celebrate Women Award for Government and Public Service Award, and the WVU College of Law Women's Law Caucus Distinguished Women in the Law Award.

Elections

Fall 2008: In the November General Election, Workman and Ketchum faced Republican nominee Beth Walker. Walker was the sole Republican nominee running for one of two spots on the Court, guaranteeing the election of either Ketchum or Workman and that the Court would likely remain majority-Democratic for at least four more years. Although Republicans won at the presidential level in West Virginia for the third straight presidential election, Democrats swept all of the other statewide offices on the ballot, including Governor, U.S. Senator, and every other executive office holder. However, the relatively nonpartisan nature of judicial races and the victory of Brent Benjamin to the Supreme Court in 2004 as a Republican, made the November general election competitive. Nevertheless, Huntington trial attorney Ketchum and former Justice Workman beat out Beth Walker for seats on the Court. Walker would later win election in the Court's first nonpartisan election in 2016.

| title = Supreme Court of Appeals, 2008 General Election results | candidate = Menis Ketchum | party = Democratic Party (United States) | votes = 355,778 | percentage = 34.83% | candidate = Beth Walker | party = Republican Party (United States) | votes = 329,395 | percentage = 32.25% | votes = 1,021,519 | percentage = 100.0% Spring 2008: Justice Larry Starcher declined to run for re-election, opening a seat on the Court. Additionally, then-Chief Justice Spike Maynard was up for re-election in 2008 after having been elected to a twelve-year term in 1996. During his re-election campaign, Maynard drew criticism when photos became public of him vacationing on the French Riviera in 2006 with Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship before voting with the majority in a 3-2 decision reversing a $76 million judgment against Massey Energy. At the time, Maynard said their friendship “has never influenced any decision I’ve made for the Court. Like most judges I don't reward my friends, or punish my enemies from the bench.” Despite outraising his competitors, fallout from the incident aided former Justice Workman and Huntington attorney Menis Ketchum to win the Democratic nominations for two seats in the November general election.{{Election box begin no change | title = Supreme Court of Appeals, 2008 Democratic Primary Election results | candidate = Margaret Workman | party = Democratic Party (United States) | votes = 180,599 | percentage = 35.97% | candidate = Spike Maynard (incumbent) | party = Democratic Party (United States) | votes = 97,409 | percentage = 19.40% | candidate = Robert Bastress | party = Democratic Party (United States) | votes = 88,490 | percentage = 17.63% | votes = 502,061 | percentage = 100.0% 2004: Workman challenged incumbent Republican Senate Minority Leader, Vic Sprouse. Workman was unopposed in the primary and became the Democratic nominee. Workman lost to Sprouse 56.4%-43.6%. {{Election box begin no change | title = West Virginia's 8th Senate district, 2004 General Election results |party = Republican Party (United States) |candidate = Vic Sprouse (incumbent) |votes = 48,762 |percentage = 56.39% |party = Democratic Party (United States) |candidate = Margaret Workman |votes = 37,709 |percentage = 43.61% | votes = 86,471 | percentage = 100.0%

2002: Workman ran for the Democratic nomination to West Virginia's 2nd congressional district, a seat won by Republican Shelley Moore Capito in 2000. Prior to Capito's election in 2000, the District had remained in Democratic control for 64 of the prior 68 years. Workman faced former state senator and 2000 Democratic nominee for the seat, Jim Humphreys, in the May nominating contest. Humphreys beat Workman by a razor thin 51-49% margin to face a re-match against Capito. Capito went on to beat Humphreys 60-40% in the November general election, improving on her 48.5%-46% victory in 2000. Capito would go onto successfully hold the seat until her election to the U.S. Senate in 2014.

Fall 1988: Workman and Miller faced Republican nominees former House Delegate and West Virginia Public Service Commissioner Charlotte Lane and attorney Jeniver Jones in the November general election. Despite Republicans winning their third straight U.S. presidential election at the federal level, Lane and Jones faced an uphill battle to beat Workman and Miller in the then-solidly Democratic state. Since 1930, no Republican had been elected as a Supreme Court Justice. Workman and Miller easily went onto beat Lane and Jones in the general election. Workman's election made her the first female Justice on the Supreme Court and first woman elected to statewide office in West Virginia. {{Election box begin no change | title = Supreme Court of Appeals, 1988 General Election results | candidate = Margaret Workman | party = Democratic Party (United States) | votes = 363,458 | percentage = 33.96% | candidate = Charlotte Lane | party = Republican Party (United States) | votes = 210,473 | percentage = 19.67% | candidate = Jeniver James Jones | party = Republican Party (United States) | votes = 149,920 | percentage = 14.00% | votes = 1,070,242 | percentage = 100.0%

Spring 1988: Then-circuit court judge Margaret Workman decided to run for one of two seats up on the Supreme Court. Workman joined fellow attorneys Fred Fox and John Hey as challengers to incumbent Justices Darrell McGraw and Thomas Miller. Fox, Hey, and Workman ran against McGraw and Miller and labeled them as "judicial activists" during their time on the bench, accusing them of aiding special interest groups, such as labor unions, personal injury claimants, workers' compensation claimants, and criminal defendants. The attacks were not entirely successful, as Miller led the five-way Democratic primary to advance to the November general election. However, Workman did edge out incumbent McGraw to become the Democratic nominee for the second seat. McGraw later returned to elected office as West Virginia Attorney General in 1996, a position he held until his defeat in 2012.

References

Young, Maria. (January 2, 2021). "Workman leaves legacy of shattered ceilings". [[Charleston Gazette-Mail]].
"Margaret Workman".
"Justice Margaret L. Workman".
"Margaret Workman: The Trailblazer".
"Margaret Workman - Judgepedia".
(23 December 2014). "Workman to Serve as W.Va. Supreme Court's Next Chief Justice".
McElhinny, Brad. (2018-08-07). "Delegates vote to impeach all four remaining WV Supreme Court justices". WV MetroNews.
Levenson, Eric. (9 August 2018). "A West Virginia House panel has voted to impeach the entire state Supreme Court". CNN.
[https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/politics/with-workman-impeachment-trial-blocked-senate-debates-next-move/article_5ba57c73-ca21-57a1-aa95-44e653f7294a.html With Workman impeachment trial blocked, Senate debates next move.]
[https://wchstv.com/news/local/west-virginia-supreme-court-halts-impeachment-trial-for-justice-workman West Virginia Supreme Court halts impeachment trial for Justice Workman.]
[https://www.wsaz.com/2020/10/29/wva-supreme-court-justice-workman-to-retire W.Va. Supreme Court Justice Workman to retire]
"Statewide Results General Election - November 4, 2008★★★Official Results★★★".
"Statewide Results General Election - November 8, 2016★★★ Official Results★★★".
Dickerson, Chris. "Workman, Ketchum top Maynard in Supreme Court battle". [[West Virginia Record]].
(May 14, 2008). "Vacation photos doom W.Va. top judge in primary". [[The Herald-Dispatch]].
"2004 General Election WV State Senate Results".
"2002 Primary Election U.S. House of Representatives".
"2000 General Election U.S. House of Representatives".
"1988 General Election Results".
(2008). "West Virginia Politics and Government". [[University of Nebraska Press]].
"1988 Democratic Primary Results".

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::