On eve of impeachment meetings, Ketchum quits WV Supreme Court

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — One day before West Virginia lawmakers start considering whether some state Supreme Court justices deserve to be impeached, Justice Menis Ketchum retired from his seat on the court, with more than two years left in his term.

Ketchum faxed his two-sentence resignation letter, handwritten on Supreme Court stationery, to Gov. Jim Justice. The letter reads: “I have decided to retire [and] relinquish my office as a Justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals. My retirement is effective at the close of the business day on Friday, July 27, 2018.” It is signed, “Respectfully yours, Menis E. Ketchum.”