Faircloth wants to be a voice for all West Virginians

CHARLESTON – Laura Faircloth wants to provide a voice for West Virginians who aren’t from Charleston.

Faircloth, who is seeking a seat on the state Supreme Court of Appeals, says she has talked to a lot of people across the Mountain State during her campaign.

“I have traveled to every outpost of the state of West Virginia,” Faircloth says. “Even though we have different kinds of lives depending on where we geographically live, most of us all live in these outposts. We all feel that way.

“If we don’t come from Charleston, the government doesn’t hear us. I hear that from every walk of live across the state. I am hopeful I can bring a voice of commonsense to those people disenfranchised and not heard by Charleston.”

Faircloth currently serves as a circuit judge serving the 27th Circuit of Berkeley and Morgan counties. She is seeking the seat currently occupied by Justice Gerald Titus III.

In addition to Faircloth and Titus, others seeking that seat are Raleigh Circuit Judge Todd Kirby, retired Raleigh Circuit Judge H.L. “Kirk” Kirkpatrick and Wheeling attorney Martin Sheehan. The nonpartisan race will be decided in the May 12 primary election.

Faircloth practiced 33 years as an attorney before running for circuit judge in 2016. She also owned and operated her own firm, which she says gives her a different perspective.

“I’m the only woman running in the race for either of the divisions,” Faircloth says. “That’s important for two reasons. One is that I am a mother and a grandmother, so I bring that perspective.

“But I’m also not one of the good old boys. They didn’t send me an application for the club. By not being one of the good old boys, I am distinguished from the people running in my division. I’ve never been appointed by a governor. I was elected, with opposition. The others running haven’t faced opposition.

“That means no governor owes me a favor. But it also means that I don’t owe them any favors. I don’t owe anyone any favor at all. Justice is blind in my courtroom. It doesn’t matter how much money you make.”

Faircloth also says she has the experience that makes her the best candidate for the job.

“There are some of the people in this race who say they have the greatest experience,” she says. “I don’t think experience is measured in the number of years. I have experience in being in the trenches for the last 10 years, and I believe that experience gives me qualities that are multidimentional.

“I’m a good listener, and I understand each case is different. I try to understand where people are in their journeys. And I try to apply the law equally and fairly to everyone.”

Faircloth describes her judicial philosophy as one personified by Lady Justice with a blindfold, scales and a sword.

“We are not a legislative bodies,” Faircloth says of the courts. “It’s not our job to fashion the law or change the law. It’s our job to equally apply the law. That’s where the scales come in.

“As for the blindfold, we park the political agendas at the backdoor. They have no place in the courtroom. And the sword comes in because there needs to be accountability and restitution, and sometimes there needs to be justice defined by time.”

Despite the non-partisan aspect of judicial campaigns in West Virginia, Faircloth said she is the only true independent in the race.

“Everyone else has a particular party,” she says. “The reason I’m an independent is because when I first ran for circuit judge, it was a non-partisan race for the first time ever in our state. I embraced that as a mandate, and I did just that. I didn’t think it was fair for me to identify with one party or the other.”

Faircloth also notes how only one of the current five Supreme court justices were elected.

“They’ve never stood for re-election,” she says. “Essentially, the executive branch has appointed four of the five justices on the Supreme Court. I’m trying to educate people it’s time to take back the judiciary.”

Faircloth says she believes each justice and judge in West Virginia does their best to uphold the constitutions of the United States and the state.

“Fundamentally, our founders created the greatest experiment on earth for a Republican form of government voicing the will of the people in all three branches,” she says. “The judicial branch is mentioned last in the U.S. Constitution because it’s supposed to be the fairest. It’s one of the checks and balances put in place. The judiciary is the final guard of liberty for the people, and we need to take that seriously.

“It has survived for all of these years. We’ve got our problems, but we are the envy of the world.”

Still, Faircloth says there’s always room for improvement.

“We always can do better,” she says. “That’s the challenge of the West Virginia judiciary as well as the federal judiciary. We do better by agreeing on what we can change.

“We can’t change the fact that people are going to disagree.  We need to identify, collectively, what we can fix. What we can make better. We can be better jurists. That’s where we can’t be a super legislative body. That’s beyond our jurisdiction.”

Faircloth also notes the seat she seeks is the one previously occupied by former Justice Tim Armstead, who died last year following a battle with cancer. Armstead and Faircloth’s husband Larry served in the state Legislature together.

“After we had that scandal with the Supreme Court of Appeals a few years ago, Armstead ran for the court and was elected,” Faircloth says. “He made it his mission to do the honorable thing and make sure that never happened again.

“I am hoping I can be someone Justice Armstead would be proud of. He was a man of true integrity at a time when the West Virginia court system was under great scrutiny. He helped revive it and brought back into a frame of reference people could be proud of. …

“This campaign has just been an honor. What I can bring, after hearing from all of these people across the state, is to let them know their voice will be heard. I’ll make sure that person is heard. That is where one justice can make a difference.

“I’ll put the fair in Faircloth if you put Faircloth on the Supreme Court.”